Asiago

Salting the tomatoes ahead of time and letting them release some of their liquid is essential. It will allow the tomatoes to caramelize and ensures that the bottom of the crust stays flaky.

At Captiva Art Cafe on Captiva Island, Florida, chef Matthew Mitchell offers imaginative pasta and egg dishes as his meatless selections. We reduced the yolks in his frittata, but all the wonderful flavor is still there. Mitchell accompanies the frittata with toasted focaccia.

In 2006, I packed up my gear and traveled to the Mall of America for the Food Network Pizza Champions Challenge. Over the course of a very grueling day, we competed for three Guinness World Records in front of a big audience and a panel of famous judges. I won two of the world-record rounds: Biggest Pizza Continuously Spinning for Two Minutes, and Most Consecutive Rolls Across the Shoulders in 30 Seconds. By comparison, round three, the cooking challenge, felt as easy as pie. Four of us gathered at our stations to get our marching orders: create a gourmet pizza in ten minutes using none of the top ten toppings—no pepperoni, no sausage, you get the idea. So, my instinct was to combine two of my favorite pizza worlds, California and Italy. I grabbed five totally traditional Italian ingredients: prosciutto, fig jam, Gorgonzola, Asiago, and balsamic vinegar. They're classic, but the thing is, you'd never find them on a pizza in Italy, at least not all together. But to us "why not?" Californians, the combination makes perfect sense as a pizza topping, and it made sense to the judges, too.

After many rounds of tweaking and perfecting, Epicurious member Robert Belden landed on a quick and easy formula for creamy and comforting Alfredo sauce. Although bathing fresh shrimp in a velvety blanket of cream and butter is a pairing that Belden says “is tough to beat,” he admits to occasionally substituting seared scallops or grilled chicken for the shrimp. Alongside crisp homemade garlic bread, this pasta dish makes a satisfying dinner to share with a friend or keep all to yourself.

Epicurious member Tess Ellis of Washington, D.C, drew inspiration from the ingredients she had on hand to create this eclectic take on a classic comfort food. The savory ingredients add dimension to the creamy dish, while the red pepper flakes add a touch of heat. To achieve a delicious crusty top, she suggests that you “put it under the broiler for a few minutes to give it a nice brown coating.”

Created by Epicurious member Kathe Miller from Chelan, Washington, this beautiful salad has a wonderful presentation as well as a rich taste. Try it as a starter, or as a satisfying lunch. Miller recommends pears that are tender but crisp, giving the salad a divine texture and bite that is at once crunchy and juicy.

Consider roasting broccoli over steaming it—doing so allows it to caramelize under the high heat. Add some slightly nutty and mildly tangy Asiago, and your taste buds will tell you this cruciferous vegetable deserves its place in the pantheon of vegetables. Be sure not to cut the broccoli into tiny pieces, as those will burn.

The Italian influences of Asiago, prosciutto, and basil dress up this childhood favorite. Take it further by adding thinly sliced red onion or avocado. If you want to omit the prosciutto, add a little salt to the sandwich to really bring out the flavors of the other ingredients.

There is not much to say about this salad—it is as charmingly simple and straightforward as it appears. You could likely just copy it without a recipe. The point I do want to stress, however, is the necessity of making your own salad dressings. There is all sorts of junk in store-bought dressings and they don't taste nearly as fresh—not to mention that it's ridiculously easy to whisk a few things together or put them in a mini blender. This particular dressing hovers around the vinaigrette family, with just enough crème fraîche to coat the leaves with the thinnest amount of creaminess. Be sure your leaves are cleaned and fully dry so the dressing can cling on. The recipe yields enough for the given salads, but I typically double it so I have extra on hand.

The heat chars the edges of the romaine leaves and softens the inner layers.

When we’re hosting game night and have lots of my husband’s friends coming over, I make this salad. It’s hearty and colorful, and because it holds very well at room temperature, I can make it ahead of time so I can take part in game night, too!

Set out the sour cream, cheese, and corn, and let each person fix his own.

Perfect risotto is easy to make; the keys are to be sure the stock is fully incorporated after each addition and to avoid overcooking the rice. If you prefer, you may use Parmesan instead of Asiago cheese in this recipe.

Frico, or “little trifles” in Italian, are very thin and crisp. When sprinkling the cheese mixture in the skillet, don’t worry if there are spaces; the cheese will melt into a lacy whole. In Italy, frico are traditionally made with Montasio cheese, but other cheeses, such as Cheddar, Asiago, and Parmesan, produce excellent results.

Butterflying a steak is actually quite simple and can be done quickly at home, but you can also ask your butcher to do it.

If you don’t have time to make the fig jam from scratch, look for a good-quality version at your grocery store. Asiago cheese has a mild, nutty flavor; parmesan cheese can be used in its place.

I don’t cook with jalapeño peppers often because I’m not a huge fan of spicy food, but when I was served grilled fish topped with a spicy pesto at a beach-side restaurant near San Diego, I loved the way the heat woke up the flavor of the fish. I thought it could do the same for pasta, and sure enough, it’s a great combo. Packed with spinach and arugula, this pesto is more condiment and less sauce than the typical basil pesto, and a bit lighter thanks to the substitution of walnuts for oily pine nuts. Fusilli is the perfect partner for any kind of pesto because the sauce gets trapped in the ridges so you get flavor in every bite. Serve leftovers of the dressed pasta with roasted chicken, fish, or beef.

I keep a batch of these buttery, cheese-laden cookies on hand for drop-in guests year round as they’re better than a bowl of mixed nuts and just about as easy to make. Versatile, attractive, and positively addictive, they’re great for a before-dinner nibble, a cocktail party hors d’oeuvre, or a pre-theater or movie snack with a glass of wine.