1. Pumpkin Bread With Brown Butter and Bourbon
This has been my go-to pumpkin bread recipe since last year. The only intimidating step is browning the butter and that's really just about paying close attention and making sure you don't burn it.
The rest of the recipe is super straightforward and makes for an amazingly moist and flavorful pumpkin bread. I had this for breakfast all throughout the week and it was the best thing to wake up to. —Marie Telling
Get the recipe here.
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2. Skillet-Charred Brussels Sprouts With Garlic, Anchovy, and Chili
So here's the deal: I LOVE Brussels sprouts and I LOVE anchovies. I love anchovies so much, I eat them as a snack, on their own, right out of the jar. My boyfriend thinks it's the grossest thing on earth.
But don't worry, if you don't usually like anchovies, you'll probably still like this Christopher Kimball recipe. How do I know? Because I tricked the aforementioned anchovy-hating boyfriend into eating these Brussels sprouts and he thought they were amazing. I even asked him if he could taste any ingredient he didn't like and he had absolutely no idea what I was talking about.
So why use anchovies at all then? Because they give the dish a rich, savory flavor that makes all the difference. The honey, garlic, and chili help complete this perfect dish and make it a real stunner and the perfect side to your fall meals. —Marie Telling
Get the recipe here.
3. Nancy's Chopped Salad
Italian salads are my platonic ideal of salads — lots of meat and cheese that makes lettuce just the guest star? Yes, please. This Smitten Kitchen take on Nancy Silverton's Italian chopped salad is all of that and more. The recipe describes it as an Italian sub in salad form, which is exactly as delicious as it sounds. I made it for a potluck, and it was amazingly well-received, considering it could've been overshadowed by the many pasta dishes other people brought.
The recipe is great because it's very adaptable and basically impossible to mess up. I used romaine instead of iceberg lettuce and swapped capers for the pepperoncinis based on what my shitty New York City corner grocery store had to offer, and I think those worked great. The hardest part was making the oregano dressing; it calls for a mortar and pestle, which I definitely do not own. I managed to fake my way around that by stuffing the ingredients into a Ziploc bag and whacking at it with a saucepan, which worked surprisingly well. Basically, as long as you're decent at chopping (and there is quite a bit of chopping involved), this salad will turn out pretty much exactly the way it's supposed to: delicious, meaty, cheesy, and definitely filling enough for a meal. —Terri Pous
Get the recipe here.
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4. Cauliflower Fried Rice
I used this recipe, but the best thing about cauliflower fried rice is that you can really mix it up and add your favorite veggies, proteins, and sauces to make it different every time.
I don't have a food processor, so I bought Trader Joe's riced cauliflower, and I was seriously shocked at how good it tasted mixed up with sautéed veggies, shrimp, and a fried egg. It really had a similar texture to rice, but instead of feeling bloated and overly full when I finished my bowl, I felt perfectly satisfied. Even my boyfriend who is always very skeptical of such low-carb substitutes as cauliflower crust and zucchini noodles really liked it. —Hannah Loewentheil
Get the recipe here.
5. Apple Custard Tart
This tart is nothing more than a classic (but delicious) apple custard tart in a pecan crust ― what makes it special is the intricate rose design made with sliced apples. This recipe arranges them them into individual roses, but I decided to make one giant one by working my way from the outside in.
The trick to making the design is to cut your apples super thin and soften them by marinating them in a mixture of melted butter, orange juice, and sugar. This will softened them just enough to fold them without breaking while maintaining their bright red color. I admit, this recipe takes a while to make (that design is truly a labor of love), but the impressive presentation is definitely worth it. —Jesse Szewczyk
Get the recipe here.
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6. Lasagna
The other day, I was craving lasagna and decided to go all in and make some myself. I'm French, so I'm not used to the whole ricotta in your lasagna thing — we stick closer to the Italian original and use béchamel in ours.
I looked for a recipe that used béchamel and found this one from Bon Appétit. Now, this is a really involved process and I didn't want to spend eight hours making lasagna, so I made a few changes:
- I didn't make the pasta from scratch. And even worse, I used these oven-ready lasagna (I adapted the cooking time to the one on the back of the box). Apologies to all the Italians out there, but the pasta was really good that way too and was much less of a headache.
- I was hungry and didn't want to let the bolognese sauce simmer for three hours so I put less broth so that it would thicken quicker. The sauce was already very rich in flavor and absolutely delicious. I'm sure going all in and spending more time on it is worth the effort but honestly my lazy version was already pretty damn good.
All in all, it was a huge hit and both my boyfriend and I went for seconds and thirds. —Marie Telling
Get the recipe here.
7. Butternut Squash Ricotta Pasta
I had all of 30 minutes to throw together dinner before running out the door and this one-pot pasta was so easy. I used this recipe as inspo, but basically I cooked my Banza pasta and wilted kale in the same water. I then drained it while reserving some pasta water. After I heated equal parts butternut squash puree (a Trader Joe’s seasonal delicacy) with ricotta cheese, I mixed in the pasta, paprika, lemon pepper, and a bit of pesto. 'Twas nutritious and delicious.😋 —Emily Shwake
Get the recipe here.
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8. Yotam Ottolenghi’s Cinnamon Pavlova, Praline Cream and Fresh Figs
A few of us on the BuzzFeed food team go through what I like to call "chef crushes." At the moment, one of our favorites is Yotam Ottolenghi. He is a chef out of London who owns several restaurants and has written a handful of (very popular) cookbooks. His newest cookbook, Sweet, has a beautiful fig pavlova on the front cover that I knew I wanted to make.
It might sound fancy, but a pavlova is nothing more than a crisp meringue filled with fruit. I also love figs and I needed to take advantage of the short season. (I actually have a dog named Fig, that's how much I love them.) Turns out, Ottolenghi's dessert recipes are just as good as his savory ones. The recipe is a bit of a process though (and the one I found online was written in grams), but the steps are simple and luckily you can use this helpful tool to convert the measurements into cups. You'll have to make a meringue, caramelize nuts, and a praline cream, but I guarantee you the results are worth it. —Jesse Szewczyk
Get the recipe here.
9. Instant Pot Parmesan Risotto
Reason #2348 I love my Instant Pot (which I have already written about at length!): It makes perfect risotto. I've heard this before about IPs, and I was skeptical but WOW this recipe made me a believer.
(Seriously, when I was eating this I literally said out loud, "If I was on Chopped and there was an Instant Pot available, I would make this and become a legend!")
Thanks to the IP's sauté feature, this is a one-pot meal with about 10 minutes of prep time, max. To make it a little bit healthy, I sautéed a handful of spinach with a clove of garlic and plopped it on top.
One thing to note: When it's done cooking, you're going to open up the lid and curse my name because it'll look soupy and messed up, but give it a quick stir and you'll realize it's actually perfect. —Rachel Christensen
Get the recipe here.
10. Chocolate Caramel Tart
This tart might look fancy, but it's seriously nothing more than a giant candy bar ― and who wouldn't want that?
There are three steps to making it: the crust, the caramel, and the chocolate glaze. The crust comes together in a mixer, and is more like shortbread than your typical tart dough ― so no need to worry about keeping your butter cold. The caramel takes about 15 minutes to make, and it's important you keep an eye on it. The sugar goes from clear to a deep amber color in a matter of minutes (but TBH, even slightly overcooked caramel is pretty darn good). Lastly, the chocolate glaze is nothing more than melted chocolate and heavy cream. Assemble your components, sprinkle with a generous amount of flake salt, and that's it! —Jesse Szewczyk
Get the recipe here.
