Winter

Instead of traditional baked pasta, we broiled mozzarella-topped penne and sausage to get that bubbly melted cheese everyone loves, minus a lot of oven time.

We had to forgo apple pie for this quick menu, but this deconstructed take is just as satisfying and very sophisticated.

When steeped overnight in a grappa syrup, dried fruits plump up with juices that infuse a moist, cakey almond filling in a golden crust.

No matter how fast you prepare Thanksgiving dinner, you must have gravy, and you must have stuffing. And both need homemade turkey stock. This one is fast, even with the time it takes to brown the giblets, neck, and wing tips. You can mostly ignore it while it simmers, but you won’t be able to deny its enriching, ennobling presence in your finished gravy and stuffing.

Opposites attract in this colorful alternative to green salad. Ingredients with two completely different textures—juicy clementines and crunchy jicama—marry in a garlicky vinaigrette. With red onion, cilantro, and fresh cheese, each bite is a burst of cool.

Just right for breakfast on the go, these muffins are subtly spiced, fluffy, and speckled with plenty of golden raisins.

The secret to this succulent bird is an inexpensive metal pan. We used the kind of old-fashioned oval roaster found in most supermarkets, not fancy cookware stores. These lightweight enameled pans with lids simultaneously roast and braise the turkey, so it stays moist even as it cooks quickly. Simply uncover it at the end to crisp the skin. Ample pan juices add a fragrant richness to our easy gravy.

What started as an arepa recipe evolved into a play on traditional American corn-bread stuffing. Chorizo takes the place of fresh sausage, and garlic adds punch to a buttery base. Imagine all of the classic textures with Latino flavors—it’s that good.

Cranberries might seem out of place in a salsa, but their zesty crunch anchors this mix of roasted pineapple, onion, and cilantro. Besides, what would Thanksgiving be without cranberries?

To the traditional orange-cranberry combination, we’ve added Mediterranean touches: dates for their honeylike sweetness and a splash of balsamic vinegar to balance the flavors.

Your guests will wonder what makes this purée so silky. You can either look away demurely, hoarding your secret, or confess that it’s parsnips. Here, the floral subtlety of these ivory tubers is bolstered by the bite of whole Brussels sprouts leaves.

Anyone who swears by wet stuffing is likely to sidle over to the dry camp after a taste of this Thanksgiving classic. Beneath a crunchy crust is an amalgam of yielding bread, meaty chestnuts, and softened celery, apple, and leeks.

Nothing evokes the fall season like a plate of pork chops and apples, but we upped the ante with spicy horseradish, which adds new verve to this timeless dish.

Test kitchen director Ruth Cousineau wanted something very simple but very savory to add to her Thanksgiving green beans. Bacon and chestnuts turned out to be a perfect pairing for the vegetable, as the latter picks up the smoky flavor of the former. With the widespread availability of bottled roasted chestnuts, these additions are an easy way to make a standard side dish something special.

When food editor Shelley Wiseman was asked to develop a recipe for an over-the-top turkey, she began by rubbing truffle butter under its skin. "It’s a cheap shot," she admitted, "but it’s damn delicious." We all agreed—it’s the best turkey most of us have ever tasted. The butter, an excellent carrier of that unmistakable truffle flavor, moistens the turkey’s meat and crisps its skin during a high-heat roast. For this splendid centerpiece, a nuanced French shallot-wine sauce is just the thing.

Throw everything in the pan, and voilà! Cranberry sauce. It’s just five ingredients simmering on the stove, but it tastes beguilingly complex. Tangerine juice and zest, fresh ginger, and plump golden raisins add a citrusy, spicy sweetness to tart, bursting cranberries.

Truth be told, it’s hard to reinvent the Thanksgiving wheel year after year. But this crust—anise seeds baked into sweet pastry dough—is a little kiss of Italian spice; it takes pumpkin pie to a whole new level.

It's an amazing phenomenon: Even after we push back from the table, feeling sated after the Thanksgiving feast, we want to linger and enjoy one last nibble. This time or year, chestnuts are clementines are an excellent pair for a final bite. And all that peeling makes this extra indulgence seem worthwhile—at least you're working for it.

Made from an amber dessert wine, Moscatel vinegar has apricot overtones and a faint, complex acidity. When food editor Maggie Ruggiero, who developed this menu, discovered it, she called it her “white-balsamic-vinegar fantasy” and was dying to use it in something. Parsnips were in season, and their earthiness paired beautifully with this vinegar. In this easy agrodolce, the parsnips become caramelized and infused with an intriguing sweetness.

For this gratin recipe, food editor Paul Grimes drew inspiration from the Alsace region of France, where it is common to pair preserved meats with sauerkraut.