Cheese

Every October as kids, we loved to go pumpkin picking and buy fresh pumpkins. Our grandmother would take the pumpkin flesh and bake it in the oven with a little cinnamon and sugar, and then we’d stick it in the blender, puree it, and use it for baking. We’d bake pumpkin bread, pumpkin cake, and pumpkin pie, and we would also roast the pumpkin seeds in the oven. Really, she used every single part of that pumpkin! The thing we loved the most was our grandmother’s pumpkin cake. It was more of a cake-bread hybrid: very dense and savory yet sweet. It smelled amazing coming out of the oven. We would sometimes just eat it without any icing, hot from the oven. We’d burn our tongues because we wouldn’t even wait for it to cool!

Make a big pot of this classic slow-cooked sauce—it freezes beautifully.

A quick dip in a simple marinade spiked with garlic and cayenne makes for grilled skirt steak that's tender and flavorful. While the steak rests, grill cherry tomatoes and toss with blue cheese for a warm side salad.

This stick-to-your ribs vegetarian dinner is a snap to make: Just hit the prepared pasta section of the grocery store for the gnocchi, roast some eggplant (do this step ahead, if you want), add marinara (store-bought is fine), and top with mozzarella.

Want comfort food on demand? These family-friendly baked shells can be assembled ahead and refrigerated or frozen so they're ready to pop in the oven with no day-of work.

A spoon works fine for stuffing the manicotti noodles, but a piping bag—while it may seem fussy—makes quicker work of the assembly.

This faster, healthier version of standard chicken Parmesan is perfect for a cozy weeknight dinner. Serve with garlic bread and a side salad to round out the meal.

Bake a couple of these grown-up pizza pockets for dinner tonight and freeze the rest for later.

This gluten-free dish offers all the melty goodness of a mac 'n' cheese dinner, without the carb-heavy pasta.

You can finish this carbonara with other seasonal vegetables, such as shredded brussels sprouts or Napa cabbage. This recipe is from Oberlin, one of Bon Appétit's Hot 10, America's Best New Restaurants 2016.

The combination of salty water and salty Parmesan puts this pasta at risk of becoming oversalted. If that happens, throw in a knob of unsalted butter at the end to mellow it and add a smooth finish.

This is made with house-pickled herring at Oberlin, but smoked trout is equally delicious as an ­anchovy alt. If you can’t get kohlrabi, try this same scenario on romaine. This recipe is from Oberlin, one of the Hot 10, America's Best New Restaurants 2016.

This sandwich can be lunch, a snack, or a late-night thing. Eat it with potato chips and lemonade; it's also great with a simple green salad for dinner.

We’ll be spreading membrillo (quince paste) inside bread for grilled cheese from now on. This recipe is from Morcilla, one of Bon Appétit's Hot 10, America's Best New Restaurants 2016.