European

Medjool dates are a favorite, but they can be swapped for the Barhi or Deglet varieties.

Talk to your butcher and let them know you’ll be making porchetta out of the shoulder roast. They’ll butterfly the roast for you, which will make it easier to roll.

Lemon makes the perfect foil for carbonara’s salty richness. You may never go back.

These sablés will melt on your tongue.

We would eat pretty much anything topped with mashed potatoes.

Instead of making our own crème anglaise for this soufflé recipe, we use melted vanilla ice cream (it’s basically the same thing!).

We tried this with a lot of different flours, but King Arthur was the best.

Olive oil–packed tuna can get pricey; we also recommend using deboned canned sardines for this pasta recipe.

You will think this pasta recipe calls for an absurd amount of kale, but it will shrink a ton when cooked.

This recipe makes a lot of ragù, but it freezes well and is worth having around. If making the gnocchi feels like a project, serve over polenta instead.

These cheesy bites puff in the oven and taste like gougères, aka fancy French cheese puffs, but this recipe makes them way easier.

Starting with store-bought puff pastry for this recipe means these crispy, buttery, savory palmiers only look hard.

You can create a variety of shapes and colors with a cookie press. We love OXO’s cookie press for this recipe since it has sturdy metal plates and all the parts unscrew easily for cleaning.

There is just no getting around the fact that almond paste is indispensable for these meringue-like cookies; it transforms their flavor and helps them brown evenly. Some brands sell in a tube; others will be in a can in the baking aisle. Using the tube is ideal since the canned might be looser, but either works for this recipe.

We found that a couple cracks across the tops of these cookies were worth it in this recipe to ensure they are as light and moist as possible, but resting the portioned dough for the full hour helps minimize getting too many.

The short bake time in this recipe isn’t a typo—these cookies should be moist and fudgy in the center, almost like a brownie.

Clams vary in brininess and the amount of liquid they’ll release during cooking, so you’ll need to adjust the salt and add pasta water accordingly. To prevent the sauce from getting too salty, we recommend a measured amount of salt for the pasta water. If possible, look for an artisanal dried pasta for this recipe—the rougher surface texture will catch the slippery sauce better.

Don’t want to use corn syrup in the glaze for this schnecken recipe? Maple syrup works as a good substitute.

Sadly, you’re not going to be able to waltz down to the corner store and pick up escargots and shells. But this recipe is still worth the effort.

You’ve heard it before: You can’t rush a good braise. Take your time browning the chicken and mushrooms and building the velvety sauce for this coq au vin recipe.

Make this recipe your thing. Serve this vibrantly hued cured salmon with an assortment of easily assembled herbs, pickles, seedy breads, and schmears.

Known as mendiants in France, these adorned chocolate bites are a holiday tradition.

When you flambé the cognac for this steak au poivre recipe, make sure your pan is really hot and your eyebrows are out of the way.

To keep lobsters alive in your fridge for up to one day, pack in damp newspaper. You can substitute eight frozen tails; sear per recipe method, then use the meat from four in place of the knuckles and claws, and split the others for serving.