European

Red potatoes keep their shape well — they don’t disintegrate during cooking — and they absorb the flavors around them, like the garlic and rosemary in these pizzas. The flaky white crystals of Maldon sea salt, which is hand-harvested in Maldon, England, make a beautiful garnish for these pizzas. Active time: 1 1/2 hr Start to finish: 4 hr

This recipe—inspired by a similar dish served at the fabulously fast-paced lunch counter Cal Pep, in Barcelona, Spain—is terrific with pork chops or roast chicken. Active time: 25 min Start to finish: 25 min

(CROSTINI DI PANE INTEGRALE CON MELANZANE E OLIVE) A simple hors d'oeuvre with rich flavor and very little fat. Note that the onion is sautéed in broth instead of oil or butter; this is a good way to cut fat and calories considerably.

The sprightly flavors in gremolata, a traditional garnish for osso buco, liven up our Lamb Chops with White Beans and can also add zip to other meats, soups, salads, grains such as rice, or even mashed potatoes. Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Delicious with crudités, this dip is also quite good as a topper for chicken or fish.

(Chick-Pea Flatbread with Sage)

(SMACAFAM) The name of this dish means "hunger killer" in the dialect of the Trentino part of the northern region of Trentino-Alto Adige.

"As a kid, I'd accompany my mother to her job at the racetrack, where she would lead the horses out to the starting gate," writes Michael Hunter of Studio City, California. "Eventually I was helping out in the stalls, and when I got older, I became a jockey. My mother was also the person who, in a roundabout way, inspired my other passion: cooking. I'd come home from school, and she would have prepared something from a box or can. I didn't always like what was on the dinner table, so one day I asked her to buy me a cookbook. Pretty soon I was making dinner for us almost every night. Now, after seventeen years of racing horses and cooking for family and friends, I'm making the jump to professional cooking."

The amount of water necessary to make pastry dough is likely to change slightly from time to time, depending on variables such as humidity and the moisture content of your butter and even, believe it or not, your flour. This recipe is used to prepare Beef En Croûte with Coriander Walnut Filling.

(TORTA DI TRE CIPOLLE CON TALEGGIO)

This recipe, a refined trail mix if you will, is based on mendiants, a traditional French Christmas dish that consists of almonds, figs, hazelnuts, and raisins. Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less

The potatoes are poached in olive oil as they often are in Spain — only some oil is absorbed; the rest is drained off. Active time: 1 hr Start to finish: 1 3/4 hr

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

This style of pizza is called "sfincione" in its native Sicily. Precede it with some canned bean soup that has been accented with chopped fresh sage and diced tomatoes. End with strawberries drizzled with Marsala, and pass nougat candies or assorted chocolates.

Start this romantic supper with Russian caviar and ice-cold lemon vodka. The main course is a simplified but impressive interpretation of the Russian fish pie known as kulebiaka, which the French call coulibiac. Offer Champagne with the entrée, and finish the meal with babas au rhum from a French bakery to complete the cross-European elegance.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.