Bette Fraser, Recipe Tester

We’ve got stars in our eyes…and our bowls…and our spoons. All thanks to pastina, the teensy star-shaped pasta that just may make the cutest supper in the solar system.

We used to get our gratins and scalloped potatoes confused. But then we tried this gratin. Guess which one is now our favorite?!

These subtly flavored, relatively healthful (shhhh!) sliders are the sleeper hit at The Meatball Shop. Not hard to understand why.

Chimichurri-induced happiness can be yours with this foolproof, fuss-free, Argentine-approved answer to what’s for dinner.

This understated hen owes its curious lure to a simple, subtle blend of butter and unexpected spice. Appallingly easy and enthrallingly enticing.

Mushrooms and butter and garlic. Think you’ve been there, done that? Trust us, you haven’t. Not like this, anyway.

All’Amatriciana—go on, roll that “r” like they do in Italy—means a spicy pasta sauce of tomatoes and pancetta or bacon. Prego.

Plonk unpeeled onions on a baking sheet. Shove in oven. Come back later for achingly sweet, tender, mellow oniony goodness. Accept accolades. See how easy that was?

You don’t have to be Greek for this amalgam of tomatoes, green beans, red onion, and feta to taste like home.

Beautiful burger buns. Were ever three words joined in such harmony? There are a lot more lovely things to be said about these pillowy specimens of bread awesomeness.

Brisket, short ribs, and chuck. When melded in just the right proportions, as here, they turn out the most luxe made-from-scratch burger we’ve ever experienced.

Meat. Fire. Smoke. It’s been a holy trinity since man first put meat to heat. Understandably so.

Need to bring something to a backyard bash when all you want is mad crazy gratitude and an empty dish to take home? This blueberry crumble with a crumbly oatmeal cookie topping is your answer.

Our easy and elegant solution when you buy not-quite-spring spears of asparagus from the grocery store? Just add cheese and butter and bread crumbs.

We swoon to short ribs prepared almost any way. But especially when braised with coffee and chiles. That is to say, this way.

Boozy prunes. So damn good that in Gascony, you’re not invited over for coffee, you’re invited over for these little lovelies.

Rite of passage as well as rite of tailgating, Frito Pie is legendary. In case you’d forgotten about it, here’s how. Serve it as-is or glam it up with anything you like.

Bathed in buttermilk and spiced ever so slightly, this Cajun fried hen is memorably moist, superlatively crisp, and gosh darn perfect through and through.

Seafood gumbo loaded with shrimp, such as this classic Cajun recipe, screams for a cold beer and a lazy weekend afternoon dedicated to nothing but cooking.

These lovely latkes are crisp without, creamy within, and sweet throughout. Entirely appropriate for Hanukkah as well as a random Tuesday night…