The Splendid Table Recipes

Pasta e Fagioli

# A recipe that instantly evokes the warmth of home, this version of the classic Italian dish was taught to me by my friend Diego, who is a shoe designer and a true Neapolitan. He invited me over for dinner one evening; I had been staying in Milan, shooting a television show, and after a long stretch of restaurants and room service, a home-cooked dinner was exactly what I needed. Pasta e fagioli is like the embrace of a friend: with the very first spoonful, you immediately realize how much you missed them. This dish is wonderful reheated the next day, when it becomes ripassata. To make that, add a little water, olive oil and grated Parmesan and warm the soup gently. When it begins to form a crust, toss it in the pan before serving.

Socca Niçoise

# Socca is a beloved street food from Nice made with chickpea flour, water, olive oil, and salt. Cooked in a blazing-hot pizza oven, it develops a thin golden crust while remaining tender and moist inside, similar to the texture of a crêpe. To be true to traditional socca, it’s important for the batter to form into this ultrathin crust and to develop a nice color. Its rustic charm lies in its simplicity— it’s often served on a paper plate, sprinkled generously with cracked black pepper, and enjoyed warm— and it’s as much an experience as a recipe. The process of scraping it from the pan into shards with a spatula or fish slicer in front of your guests is a real crowd-pleaser.

Crispy Noodle Omelette

# This is a bit of a mash-up of different influences and cuisines, born out of leftovers and a need for a tasty dinner. Crispy noodles bound with egg make for a lovely platform to soak up all the flavours you throw at it. You can make it straight through by soaking noodles in boiling water, draining and cooling, but I also like to make extra at dinner, knowing I can have this the next day. If you want a lighter meal, you can get by with making this with just one egg per person. Have a look for bean sprouts in a jar, as they last a lot longer and are always to hand.

One-Pan Harissa Chicken & Rice

# The key to creating deeply delicious one-pan meals is building layers of flavor. While it might be tempting to throw everything in at once, taking a few extra minutes to add ingredients in stages gives you so much more depth – it’s the difference between a good meal and a great one. Here, you season chicken with harissa and warm spices, then give it a quick sear. This creates a flavorful fond to cook the onion and garlic, which in turn forms a rich, savory base for toasting the rice. The latter then soaks up the saffron and broth, cooking alongside the spiced chicken. Finish with a spoonful of lemony yogurt to cool everything down and you’ve got a deeply satisfying one-pan dinner.

Baked Pork Chop Rice

# This is the dish that could define cha chaan teng: a fried pork chop, a searing orange tomato sauce, a pan of golden fried rice, luxuriant cheese melted and blistered on top. Making it the long way means understanding, finally, the extravagance that cha chaan teng cooks can serve in ten minutes.

Ricotta Dip

# Y’all, this ricotta dip SLAPS! It’s my favorite dip from the cookbook shoot, as well. The lemony, mild cheesiness is mind-blowingly good. It’s soooo simple but so perfect in so many ways. Please put a limit on yourself quickly, because as soon as it leaves the oven and you pierce that top golden layer of cheese, it’s over! It’s so hard to stop eating it; you’ve been warned!

Marshmallow and Cereal Treats

# It is easy to flex your culinary creativity and play with cereal treats. Just think of your dream flavor combo, and I promise you can use it to create a custom cereal treat! Bonus: no bake! There are two main ways to be creative with these. You can add crunch, swirl, or spice mix-ins directly into the marshmallow and cereal mixture—folding them in, swirling them through, or even melting them right into the base. You can also go the layered route—press half the cereal mixture into the pan, spread on your swirl (fudge, peanut butter, caramel, and the like), then press the remaining cereal mixture on top. If you are using a spread or softer mix-in, make sure it has the consistency of peanut butter because you don’t want to add liquid to this recipe. With all this in mind, I’ll give you the structure for making these treats. All you have to do is choose your own adventure.

Sneaky Turkey Meatballs

# These turkey meatballs go out to all the wannabe lentil haters, aka my kids and their friends. Trust me when I say this is a don’t-ask-don’t-tell kinda situation. I love mixing beans or lentils in with meat to stretch the portion as a budget hack. Plus, most of us could use a bit more fiber anyway. Add these meatballs to my Hidden Veggie Pasta Primavera (page 95), or serve them on their own with ketchup for dipping. I like to freeze half after cooking for a future meal, which I usually reheat in the air fryer from frozen.

Coconut-Caramel Brownies

# I wanted a brownie that tasted like a certain coconut-and-chocolate Girl Scout cookie without that bland cookie getting in the way. At first, I wanted a gooey, melty caramel on top of these brownies, but on my first attempt, the caramel-coconut mixture cooked more than I had planned. But that slight crunch really hit the spot—an excellent textural contrast to the fudgy brownies. So I kept it that way.

Parmesan Shortbread Sandwich Cookies with Tomato Basil Cream Cheese

# These delectable sandwiches are decidedly savory, made with a good aged Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese (those crystals in the Parm season the dough and really bring the flavor) and filled with tomato and basil cream cheese. Serve them with cocktails, or as part of an afternoon tea spread to balance the sweeter treats. Look for jarred, roasted tomatoes at the supermarket. They’re more flavorful and less leathery than sun-dried tomatoes and meld better with cream cheese.