• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

Olive oil, for brushing, or olive oil cooking spray

1 pound Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced

½ medium yellow onion, very thinly sliced

Kosher salt and ground black pepper

½ teaspoon dried thyme

2 cups baby spinach leaves

3 cups grated manchego or cheddar cheese

1 tablespoon diced jarred jalapeño pepper slices

2 slices prosciutto, finely chopped

Heat the oven to 425°F. Lightly coat a pie plate with olive oil.

Arrange a single layer of potato slices over the bottom of the pie plate, edges slightly overlapping. Lightly brush or spray the potatoes with olive oil. Place half the onions in a thin layer over the potatoes, then season with salt, pepper, and half of the thyme.

Top the onions with 1 cup of the spinach leaves, spread evenly, then sprinkle with 1 cup of the cheese. Place a second layer of potatoes over the cheese, pressing it down gently with the palm of your hand. Brush or spray on another light coat of oil.

Repeat the layering by topping the potatoes with the remaining onions, seasonings, spinach, 1 cup of the cheese, and a final layer of potatoes. Gently press down on the potatoes, coat with oil, then top with the final cup of cheese. Sprinkle the tart with the diced peppers and prosciutto.

Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until the edges are brown and potatoes are cooked. Let stand 5 minutes, then cut into wedges to serve.

HOW LONG? 1 HOUR (20 MINUTES ACTIVE)

HOW MUCH? 4 SERVINGS

CHAPTER EIGHT

SUGAR RUSH

Grilled Cinnamon-Sugar Breadsticks

Marinated Strawberries with Lemony Mascarpone

Ginger Fig Crumb Bars

Apple Pie Pops

Balsamic Chocolate Cookie Ice Cream

Berries and Cream Tart

Brown Sugar and Ginger Pumpkin Bread

Chocolate Cherry Truffles

No-Bake Blackberry, Blueberry, and Red Grape Pie

Grilled Apples with Mascarpone

Cookie Dough Apple-Peach Crisp

Chocolate Marzipan Sugar Cookies

Caramel Streusel Apple Pie Cookies

Mango-Lemon Sorbet

Dessert shouldn’t hurt. That’s my response to the crazy stupid lengths to which some cookbooks (and, every now and again, this delusional food editor) will urge the home cook to go just to gussy up an otherwise fine recipe.

It’s a lesson I should have learned the time I nearly set my dining room ablaze during a photo shoot of a brownie and ice cream flambé. Or the time my photographer set the two of us on fire during an indoor hibachi shoot. Or the time I misjudged how flame retardant peanuts are (they aren’t) and set an entire pan of peanut-topped scallops on fire under the broiler.

No. For this lesson to sink in, I had to experience a hand burn serious enough to draw blood.

As host of a weekly food video segment, I sometimes recruit food celebs and experts to come on air and demo take-home tricks, sort of an evening news meets Rachael Ray (minus the war, famine, and babe factors).

For an early episode, I got a pastry chef to demonstrate spun sugar. It’s a trick high-end restaurants use to make you think a twenty-dollar ball of sorbet is worth it. It involves heating sugar until it melts, then drizzling it over an overturned bowl. When it hardens, you lift off a “cage” of sugar that can be placed over a dessert. It’s got a serious Wow! factor.

It’s also got about 310 ripping-hot degrees behind it. Not an issue if that sugar doesn’t come into contact with you.

I liked the pastry chef doing the demo. Until she splashed me. On camera. There’s really no way to casually brush 310-degree sugar off your hand while maintaining lively banter about dressing up Valentine’s Day desserts.

And so I say, dessert shouldn’t hurt. I recall no blood being shed for these recipes.

Grilled Cinnamon-Sugar Breadsticks

Imagine a dessert with the flavor of French toast and the texture of fried dough. It’s warm and doughy and crunchy and cinnamony and sugary all rolled together.

But be sure to cover the grill grates with foil. The butter dripping off the dough will cause flare-ups, and that leaves a nasty taste on the breadsticks.

½ cup (1 stick) butter, melted

½ teaspoon cinnamon

⅛ teaspoon