One-Pot Meals

Far from being a culinary museum piece, the pressure cooker deserves a place in the 21st-century kitchen. One reason: You can make this hearty Italian meal of incredibly tender lamb with vegetables and saucy beans in about an hour.

This full-bodied stew will bring the crowd running when you lift the lid. First, pieces of chuck are browned to develop their flavor, then they’re braised in a red-wine beef broth. Adding the potatoes and carrots toward the end of cooking keeps their character and color bright.

Chicken soup is an automatic crowd-pleaser, but this Mexican-inspired tortilla soup does the classic one better. Homemade broth is key here, providing a base for brown rice, black beans, and chunks of sweet potato. Cooling pieces of avocado play off of a warm, earthy undercurrent of chipotle chiles.

For this interactive dinner, use a camping or induction burner at the table, or just get cozy around a warm stove. As the broth cooks the chicken and vegetables, it becomes a flavorful homemade soup.

The pork needs time to cook and chill, so be sure to begin this recipe at least one day ahead. Put out a platter of cornbread (homemade or purchased) along with the posole.

The clams and sausage make a warm and comforting one-pot meal. Toss with cooked linguine, or just serve with toasted pain rustique.

The tradition of Sicilian cooking is well documented in Anna Tasca Lanza’s works, and she is the zen mistress of all of the island’s fascinating food lore. Her school at Regaleali winery is one of the best I have visited and it was an experience to cook shoulder to shoulder with a modern national treasure. This is a variation on a dish from her first book, Flavors of Sicily.

In Italy, this recipe is a classic holiday dish. For Christmas Eve, it would generally be served at room temperature, as part of a buffet.

Under the weight of a second skillet, the "pressed" chicken releases its fat and juices into the pan and ends up cooking in all that sumptuousness. The result is almost unbelievably moist meat. Adding the quick-cooked vegetables and the spicy perfume of marjoram completes what is sure to become a go-to recipe in your dinner arsenal.

You can tell this recipe hails from a tropical environment because of the way the first bite of chiles causes a light sweat to break out on your brow. Then a breeze blows by, and— ahh—you're instantly cooled off and refreshed, able to fully enjoy the sweetness of plump shrimp and an evolving harmony of spices.

A perfect introduction to the allure of chiles, this Italian classic balances the cherry peppers' piquancy with roasted bell peppers, lemon, and parsley. It's a bright, summery dish that you'll hanker for all year long.

Cumin makes this easy stir-fry exceptionally fragrant, while the last-minute addition of celery leaves creates a counterpoint of aromatic freshness.

We love the contrast of sliced almonds and golden-brown cauliflower against the risotto’s Brie-amplified creaminess.

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.

We love the many textures and flavors of this spicy coconut curry with butternut squash, spinach, and cashews. Bottled red curry paste keeps it supermarket-friendly.

A bit of Spanish chorizo goes a long way, lending another dimension to a skillet full of mouthwatering clams and potatoes.

There's really no trick to recipes like this: Using moist, flavorful chicken thighs and good marinated artichoke hearts will result in a simple but memorable single-pan dish.

The sweetness of the carrots is a nice contrast to the slightly bitter beer.

Greens are paired with salty olives and feta—to great effect. The greens cook in the pasta water, making this an efficient one-pot meal.