Recipes By Melissa Clark
1476 recipes found
Roasted Eggplant and Tomato Pasta
This summery pasta is just as much about the vegetables as it is about the pasta itself. The star of the dish is the roasted eggplant, which caramelizes and softens in the oven. Those tender browned cubes then get tossed with cooked pasta and a quickly made sauce of fresh grated tomatoes, capers and chile flakes. Because the tomatoes need to be ripe and soft enough to fall into a purée when you rub the cut sides over the holes of a grater, heirloom tomatoes (which haven’t been bred for sturdiness during shipping) are a good choice here. But any juicy, flavorful, fleshy tomatoes will work. The cheese at the end is strictly optional, as is the butter. If you don’t eat dairy, feel free to leave them out.
Strawberry Scone Loaf
Bits of dried strawberry form jammy pockets in the tender crumb of this golden, crunchy-topped treat. Baking it as a loaf instead of individual scones keeps the interior particularly moist, while the edges bake up craggy and brown. Serve it dolloped with softened butter or clotted cream. And while adding jam might seem like overkill, it’s only in the best possible way. (Watch the video of Melissa Clark making strawberry scone loaf here.)
Sheet-Pan Full English Breakfast
There’s always a night when you want to have breakfast for dinner, and this is how to do it British-style, in a very untraditional, sheet-pan take on the classic. Drizzled with Worcestershire sauce, the roasted mushroom and tomatoes become especially savory while the eggs are cooked until crisp-edged and runny-yolked, right in the sausage drippings. This recipe works best with pork sausages, which will release a flavorful slick of brawny fat. But other kinds of sausages — turkey, chicken, plant-based — will also work well. Serve this with plenty of buttered toast, and if you like, baked beans (most authentically, straight from a can).
Roasted Radishes With Anchovies
Crisp radishes turn sweet and juicy when briefly roasted at high heat. Here, the chef Bryan Hunt from Riverpark restaurant in Manhattan coats them in a pungent anchovy-rich bagna cauda sauce. This is best served warm rather than piping hot. You can make the anchovy mixture up to 3 days ahead. Store it in the fridge and bring it to room temperature before using.
Bacon and Egg Pizza
If you’ve ever had a hankering for pizza for breakfast, this recipe is exactly what you need. With a topping of creamy ricotta, runny eggs and plenty of crisp bacon, this white pizza doesn’t need tomato sauce to give it pizazz. The flavors are a little like a carbonara, with the mozzarella and ricotta making it extra creamy.
Blackberry Crumb Muffins
There are muffins that aspire to be healthful, filled with the likes of whole grains, wheat germ and fruit purée. Then there are rich, chocolate-chip laden muffins that are more like cupcakes in disguise. These muffins fall squarely into that last camp. But they are as tender and buttery as any crumb cake. And like a crumb cake, their nubby, cinnamon-scented crumb topping makes them feel more appropriate for brunch than dessert. This is breakfast food at its most elegant and delicious.
Corn Polenta With Baked Eggs
This baked polenta is an extremely adaptable pantry dinner, and it works just as well without a stash of summer corn. (Of course, if you carefully sliced some off, and froze them after the summer, feel free to use them here.) You can use just about any kind of hearty chopped green here, and any full flavored cheese such as feta, blue cheese, Parmesan or an aged Cheddar. The eggs round out the dish, but feel free to leave them out for a satisfying side dish. (This recipe is part of the From the Pantry series, started in the days after the coronavirus lockdown.)
Silky Scrambled Eggs With Pancetta, Pepper and Pecorino
Keeping the heat low and steady is the key to these soft scrambled eggs. Pancetta adds a brawny bite, but you can leave it out to make the dish vegetarian. Do add lots of freshly ground black pepper, though: It’s what gives the custardy eggs a spicy snap.
Simple Yeasted Waffles
Yeast-risen waffles have a lovely, complex tang that works beautifully with whatever sweet topping you apply – honey, maple syrup, fruit jam. You can make the batter the night before and let it rise in the refrigerator until breakfast time. Or, it will rise at room temperature in a couple of hours, which makes these waffles a good choice for brunch. Like all waffles, these freeze well. Once they cool, pack them in a heavy-duty freezer bag and store in the freezer. Then pop them, still frozen, in a toaster to reheat. Toasted waffles are even crisper than freshly made ones, and make a quick and convenient weekday breakfast.
Kimchi Omelet With Sriracha Syrup
The ingredient list is short and the cooking method quick and unfussy — so much so that this kimchi omelet doesn’t seem like a restaurant recipe at all. But then you bite in. There is a delicate balance of flavors — sweet, salty, spicy — and textures — soft, crunchy, sticky — that only a skilled chef could so precisely devise. That the ingredients are not expensive and the technique not daunting only makes it more appealing. The premise is simple: you sauté chopped store-bought kimchi in a pan, then add beaten eggs. What elevates this from your standard brunch is the sriracha syrup, made from simmered rice vinegar and sugar spiked with thick red hot sriracha chili sauce (or any other hot sauce). Combined with the kimchi, there’s just enough heat to make your tongue tingle but not burn. For that you can add more sriracha on the side if you like. Or serve it with more kimchi. It makes a hearty breakfast, an unusual lunch or a light dinner. And a simple one, too.
Cinnamon Crumb Cake Muffins
Somewhere between muffins and mini-crumb cakes, these tender breakfast treats have a surprise layer of crunchy, cinnamon-scented crumbs hiding underneath. Browning the butter for the crumbs adds a rich, caramelized depth that rounds out the flavors of vanilla and lemon zest in the batter. These muffins keep well for several days stored airtight at room temperature, and freeze perfectly for up to two months.
Challah French Toast With Cinnamon-Sugar Glaze
Thick slices of soft challah bread make for superior French toast, with a plush, custardy center and golden, crisp edges. This version has extra egg yolks for added richness, and a dash of cardamom for spice. Cinnamon-sugar is sprinkled on top of the challah slices as they cook, caramelizing and glazing them (though you can skip this step, if you want). If you want to work ahead, soak the challah slices in the custard mixture the night before, storing everything in the fridge, then add a few extra minutes onto the cooking time to make sure the centers are cooked through.
Dutch Baby With Bacon and Runny Camembert
Most Dutch babies are sweet and often fruity. Not this one, which is topped with runny Camembert cheese and studded with bacon. It’s savory, golden and perfect for a hardy brunch or light dinner. A word of caution: It deflates quickly, so be sure to serve it as soon as it comes out of the oven.
Cornmeal Plum Scones
Scones with jam is classic. But in most cases the jam is served alongside; here, we’ve baked it right into the pastry. This recipe calls for a whipping up a quickly made plum and honey jam scented with bay leaf (you can substitute a rosemary sprig or cinnamon stick if you’d rather). If that seems like one step too many, use any prepared jam you like, though something on the less sweet side works best. Or bake the cornmeal scones unfilled. They are moist, lightly sweet and perfectly satisfying all on their own.
Savory Scones With Onion, Currants and Caraway
Whole-Wheat English Muffins
Yes, it is worth your while to make English muffins from scratch. Not only is the texture lighter and crisper, homemade muffins taste better, too — yeasty, wheaty, complex. You will need to sear these muffins on the stove top before baking. That’s what gives them their unique crunch on their bottoms. This recipe does not require muffin rings, but if you have them and would like to use them, go right ahead. Just add a few minutes onto the baking time to accommodate the muffins’ increased thickness. Then fork-split them, toast and serve with plenty of butter. After all, that’s what those crevices are made for.
Salami and Scallion Biscuits
These rich, savory biscuits are even better than the traditional ham and cheese variety. Bits of chopped salami and scallions are scattered throughout tender dough that's been enriched with heavy cream. Did we mention that they come together – start to finish – in about 45 minutes? They'll be gone in about five.
Honey-Apple Bread Pudding
Soft and cakelike challah makes for a deluxe bread pudding. This one is shot through with cubes of apples caramelized in honey, then topped with sliced almonds for crunch. You can assemble the pudding up to two days ahead of time and store it, covered, in the refrigerator. Then pop it into the oven an hour or two before you want to serve it, adding a few minutes onto the baking time. It’s best served warm, when the apples are at their most jamlike. But leftovers served cold from the fridge make a terrific breakfast.
Crème Brûlée French Toast
With a crackling, caramelized brown sugar topping, these custardy slices of French toast resemble crème brûlée. Start them soaking the night before, then pop them in the oven in the morning for one of the most decadent brunches imaginable. Even better, you can bake a pan of bacon at the same time. Just keep your eye on it; depending upon its thickness, the bacon might be done a few minutes sooner than the French toast. Then serve the French toast with more of the pan syrup spooned on top. But skip the maple syrup, which would be overkill.
Rhubarb Shake
A combination of rhubarb compote, honey, yogurt and rosewater, this is unusual shake works either for dessert or as a sweet mid-afternoon snack. Keep in mind that the redder your rhubarb, the rosier the shake. If you can only find green stalks, add a few strawberries to the pot to brighten things up. You can make the compote a week ahead, but don’t blend the shake until just before serving. It will separate if left to sit out for more than ten minutes or so.
Matzo Brei With Hot Honey and Feta
When it comes to matzo brei (rhymes with fry), preferences run deep. Do you like yours salty and peppery, with crispy edges, or softer and sweeter, served with a drizzle of syrup or shower of confectioners’ sugar? This version leans savory, dotted with pockets of creamy feta and dill, but a slick of hot honey added at the end is a nod to the sweeter — albeit spicier — side. Serve it for breakfast, lunch or dinner, during Passover and beyond. It’s a quick, satisfying meal with verve to spare.
Breakfast Bars With Oats and Coconut
A little like granola bars with their combination of oats, seeds, almond butter and dried cherries, these cookies — adapted from the chefs Michelle Palazzo and Peter Edris of Frenchette Bakery — have a soft and chewy texture rather than a crunchy snap. Perfect for a breakfast on the run or an afternoon nibble, they are lightly sweet and decidedly filling. At the bakery, the dough is baked into large, individual cookies, but, in this slightly simpler version, the dough is pressed into a 9-inch pan and baked into bars. (To make cookies, see the note below.)
Matzo, Lox, Eggs and Onions
One morning during Passover, when I was eating matzo brei but dreaming about bagels and lox, it hit me. If I added smoked salmon to the matzo brei, I’d end up with a heartier twist on another Jewish staple: lox, eggs and onions.
Za’atar
Za’atar is the name for both a traditional Middle Eastern seasoning blend and the pungent green herb that gives the blend its intense, earthy character. The hardy herb, which grows wild, tastes like a combination of oregano, marjoram, summer savory and thyme — all of which can be used as substitutes if dried za’atar isn’t available. As with all spice blends, recipes vary widely depending on the region and the cook, but this one, adapted from Lior Lev Sercarz of La Boîte in New York, includes ground sumac berries for acidity, toasted sesame seeds for their rich, earthy notes, and a little salt as well. Za’atar can be used in marinades for grilled or roasted poultry or meats, mixed into dips, salads and egg dishes, or set on the table to be sprinkled on dishes as a bright and herby condiment.