Main Course
8665 recipes found
Pasta With Sardines, Bread Crumbs and Capers
This quick and easy version of the classic Sicilian pasta dish comes together in about 20 minutes with ingredients you probably already have in your pantry and fridge. You can pick up anything you're missing at the corner deli.
Crisp-Braised Duck Legs with Aromatic Vegetables
Crisp braised duck legs with vegetables is a simple, luxurious dish. You brown the duck until the skin is crackly and golden. You cook the vegetables in some of the rendered fat until they start to soften, then you add chicken stock and cook everything together in the oven until the duck is tender and super-crisp and the vegetables are melting and unctuous. Do not feel bound to the carrots, celery and onion called for in the recipe. Any number of root vegetables – infused with the rendered fat – would be incredible here.
Risotto Nero with Squid
Squid ink is an extraordinarily delicious ingredient; it adds indescribable complexity, even when it's used in small quantities. You can buy it online or from Italian, Spanish and Japanese shops, and in some upscale grocers. Most fishmongers carry it in 1-ounce packets. (If you are up for it, collect your own ink from whole fresh squid.) To make this black risotto, first simmer the squid with tomato, wine and squid ink until tender. Fold the flavorful stew into plain risotto just toward the end of cooking.
Deep-Dish Mushroom Pie
Lemon Risotto With Brussels Sprouts
If you’re looking for a new way to include healthy Brussels sprouts in your diet, look no farther than this tantalizing risotto. Like the other cruciferous vegetables, Brussels sprouts are loaded with sulfurous compounds that are believed to have strong antioxidant properties.
Risotto with Tomatoes and Corn
This colorful risotto serves as a luxurious showcase for summer’s bounty of tomatoes and corn. This is about as colorful and summery a risotto as you can get. The tomatoes and broth team up as a rich medium for the rice. Don’t add the corn too soon, or it will develop a starchy texture like the rice. But cook it long enough to bring out its sweet flavor. Simmer the corn cobs for about 20 minutes in your broth to get a great sweet corn flavor.
Frejon (Beans in Coconut Milk)
A simple dish of cooked beans puréed with coconut milk, frejon is an ode to the coastal city of Lagos and its rich cultural diversity. Typically served with a seafood stew, it is accompanied here by a vibrant, chunky tomato sauce laced with the heat of habanero, the richness of red palm oil and a hit of umami from dried crayfish, which is optional but highly recommended. A garnish of garri (coarsely ground and dehydrated cassava) adds some necessary texture; lime zest and bright green herbs lends freshness.
Risotto With Turkey, Mushrooms and Peas
Turkey makes an unexpected but welcome addition to this traditional risotto.
Pasta With Garlicky Anchovies and Broccoli Rabe
Anchovies star in this robust, wintery pasta dish, lending a savory backbone to a pan full of wilted broccoli rabe and fresh tomatoes. Although the anchovies and garlic are sautéed in olive oil, butter is added at the end, giving the sauce some richness and body, and mellowing the bitterness of the broccoli rabe. Note that while the ricotta adds creaminess to the pasta, it is strictly optional. Leave it out for a leaner dish with a more concentrated flavor.
Risotto With Milk
This intensely creamy Italian rice dish, called riso al latte, falls somewhere between rice pudding and risotto. The rice is cooked in vanilla- and lemon-infused milk, but barely sweetened, making it more appropriate for brunch than dessert. Crunchy bread crumbs and flaky sea salt add texture, while the optional drizzle of sweetened cappuccino (or regular milky coffee) lends bittersweet complexity. If you like, you can serve this with a juicy salad made from halved cherry tomatoes mixed with berries and pomegranate seeds, and seasoned with a few drops of balsamic vinegar. Or increase the sugar and serve it for dessert.
Cod and Mussel Stew With Harissa
Uncomplicated, easy main courses are sometimes the most satisfying, and this fish and shellfish stew definitely qualifies. A simple marinade with cilantro, cumin and lemon juice infuses the fish with flavor and a dab of spicy harissa makes the broth sing. Take the time to toast and grind whole cumin, coriander and caraway seeds for deeper flavor.
Farfalle With Roasted Peppers
For this dish, inspired by Greek and Turkish ways with pasta and yogurt, I combined peppers from the market, peas from my freezer and herbs from my garden.
Pissaladière
Sweet, caramelized onions, briny anchovies and olives make the up the topping for this traditional Provençal tart. This version calls for a yeasted dough, which makes the tart somewhat like a pizza. But puff pastry, which Julia Child preferred, is also traditional, and quite a bit richer. If you’d rather use that, substitute a 12- to 16-ounce package for the yeast dough, and bake the tart at 375 degrees until the bottom and sides are golden brown, about 20 to 25 minutes. Pissaladière makes great picnic fare, in addition to being a terrific appetizer or lunch dish. This recipe is part of The New Essentials of French Cooking, a guide to definitive dishes every modern cook should master.
Pasta Niçoise
Shrimp and Artichoke Risotto
Stewed Green Beans and Tomatoes With Trahana
The stewed green beans with tomatoes are typical of many Greek “olive oil dishes,” or “ladera,” though my version has about a quarter of the olive oil used in a traditional dish. I have bulked it up by adding trahana to the mix, which turns it into a stew that is suitable as a main dish. It is delicious hot or at room temperature.
Pasta With Morels, Peas and Parmesan
Morels are expensive, but a few go a long way and there is nothing quite like them for flavor and texture -- chewy, meaty and that aroma, earthy and exotic. Even at $30 a pound, $7 or $8 seems well worth the price.
Shad and Shad Roe With Mushrooms
One-Pan Pasta With Harissa Bolognese
This Bolognese is made from start to finish in one roasting pan — including the pasta, which cooks directly in the sauce. It may seem counterintuitive to chop apart dried manicotti or cannelloni, but there is a method to the madness: It’s nearly impossible to break the dried pasta in half exactly, so you end up with some shards, which become lovely and crisp, and some tubes, which hold the sauce very nicely. The kick and thick consistency of the Tunisian harissa brand Le Phare du Cap Bon is especially nice, but any kind will work — just note that the spice level and texture of the final dish will reflect the harissa you choose. Sprinkle this dish with additional cheese before serving, if you’d like.
Sizzled Five-Spice Shrimp With Red Pepper
This flavorful wok-fried shrimp dish makes an easy but very impressive dinner. Bright and spicy, it calls for strips of ripe red Fresno chiles, which are not very hot and available in the produce section of most supermarkets. Use red bell peppers instead if you want to tame the heat. Look for fresh or frozen wild shrimp when possible, from the Eastern Atlantic, the Gulf of Mexico or Alaska. Make sure to buy farmed shrimp from a certified sustainable source; imported farmed shrimp are not always reliable or of good quality.
Tangy Chicken With Shiitake Crust
To reduce the amount of butter and cream in his dishes, the chef Michel Richard works with three elements: reductions or concentrations, sauces or juices; crusts to keep food moist; and firecrackers, the crunch from oven-dried vegetables and fruits.
Gnocchi With Wild Mushrooms
Split Green Mung Beans, Mumbai-Style
Purple Barley Risotto With Cauliflower
Purple prairie barley is an heirloom grain that originated in Tibet. High in protein, the grain has the chewy texture of regular barley but with a dark purple hue. If you can’t find purple barley, make this delicious risotto with the regular type, preferably whole hulled barley that has not been pearled. (Pearl barley cooks more quickly, but many of the nutrients are lost when it’s pearled.) Whichever you use, cook the barley ahead of time so that the dish doesn’t take too long to make. Purple prairie barley takes about one and a half hours to cook if unsoaked, about one hour if soaked. A cup yields just under 4 cups cooked barley.