We’ve had pizza on the brain here at The New York Times food section, ever since Brett Anderson published his excellent, deep dive into the culture of American pizza-making, along with our list of 22 of the best pizzas in the country. What are your favorites?
Making pizza at home might be a tall order in these sweltering days of summer. Unless you have an outdoor pizza oven, cranking your stove as high as it goes to get a proper crust can tax both your heat tolerance and your air-conditioning. Pizza making is on hiatus in our house until fall, or at least until I’ve mastered the tricky art of the grilled pizza (maybe with Kenji López-Alt’s help).
In the meantime, Ali Slagle’s crispy gnocchi with burst tomatoes and mozzarella gets you pizza flavors without pizza temperatures, and it’s easy to make in a skillet in under 30 minutes. You don’t even need to boil the gnocchi. Just sear them in oil until they become crisp outside and chewy within, then toss them with cherry tomatoes, red pepper flakes, basil and milky mozzarella. A quick stint under the broiler turns the cheese gooey and dappled brown in spots — just like your favorite slice, sans shvitz.
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Crispy Gnocchi With Burst Tomatoes and Mozzarella
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One thing I’m very comfortable grilling is chicken, especially thighs that have been marinated in garlic and yogurt to keep them juicy. My grilled za’atar chicken is full of fragrant herbs and bright lemon, and the dark meat is forgiving to cook if, say, you’re easily distracted by fireflies or fireworks. For those without a grill, the recipe works just as well under your broiler.
On the hottest nights, I chill with Hetty “Cool Hand Cuke” Lui McKinnon’s cold sesame noodles with cucumber, corn and basil. It’s a seasonal update of a beloved Chinese dish, enlivened with snappy raw cucumbers, corn kernels and as much chile crisp as you can handle.
Coming back to Ali, her pan-seared pork chops with charred pineapple evoke sweet and sour pork or tacos al pastor. After quickly browning boneless chops in a skillet, she adds chunks of pineapple to cook in the drippings until they caramelize in spots. Soy sauce adds depth while a dash of vinegar brings a welcome tang to cut through the sweetness. Serve it with rice or on a bed of crunchy lettuce for a beautiful weeknight dinner.
For a dessert with tangy-sweet flavor, we go straight for Yossy Arefi’s strawberry lemonade cake. Yossy tints the buttercream bright pink with crushed freeze-dried strawberries, then generously frosts two lemon-zest-imbued cake layers with it. A crown of fresh strawberries makes this stunning confection fabulous and Insta-ready. It’s just the thing for your Fourth of July party or any other summer celebration in need of a cake. (Are there summer celebrations that don’t need cake? Answer: No.)
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Here’s a simple way to combine chicken and yogurt without a grill: Yasmin Fahr’s glorious one-pot chicken meatballs with greens. The yogurt keeps the gently spiced meatballs very tender, so they’re easy to eat alongside a nest of cumin-scented, lemony chard.
