Dinner

This recipe is wonderful for many reasons: A whole head of cauliflower caramelizes in a skillet before being simmered with heavy cream, black pepper, pecorino cheese, and a bit of lemon zest, breaking down into a special (and yes, decadent) sauce to coat the pasta shape of your choosing...it’s all very dreamy. But really, it’s the pecorino breadcrumbs we’re here for, and that’s okay—they’re magnificent. A crunchy, oily, salty vehicle for more cheese and much-needed texture, they’re the ideal finish to a saucy pasta such as this, but please don’t stop there. Use them as tiny croutons to finish a Caesar salad or scatter them over the top of a pot of saucy beans. Once they’re in your life, you’ll never want to be without them.

You will have a hard time finding two Mexican households that agree on how to make this beloved pork and chili soup. Cumin? No cumin? Whole onion or chopped? Two things everyone knows, though, is that it’s always worth the effort, and it always tastes better the next day.

This warm winter salad has it all: crispy kale, roasted sweet potato and salty pops of halloumi. I top it off with pita chips and sumac-pickled onions as a nod to my favourite Middle Eastern salad, fattoush.

One story says that this recipe originated in early 20th-century Naples, specifically in the Quartieri Spagnoli, where the houses of pleasure were situated. Others say the dish was invented in Rome under similar circumstances.

This pasta was originally made with a white sauce, before tomatoes were introduced to Italy in the eighteenth century, but the key ingredients now are jowl bacon (called guanciale), olive oil, ripe plum tomatoes and pecorino cheese, cooked together in a lightweight cast-iron pan. This is my personal rendition, and deviates from the traditional version with the addition of sliced onions, for texture and sweetness, as well as some peper­oncino and, to add complexity, bay leaves.