Nut

Instead of being pounded together, as they traditionally are, the best parts of the classic Catalan sauce are left intact here—yielding the same comforting flavor with a terrific assortment of textures.

This mix is everything you want with a drink—a little bit salty, but with a nice variety of textures and flavors.

Three varieties of basil combine to make a powerfully fragrant and versatile topping for pasta, chicken, or fish.

Ginger and Shaoxing rice wine give a deep, round intensity to chicken, turning it into something sumptuous. The salty savor of country ham and chewy, dense chestnuts help make each forkful a hit.

These individual cakes, from Lantern pastry chef Monica Segovia-Welsh, are moist, tender, and not remotely fussy. If you don’t want to fool with the suggested accompaniments, serve the cakes with a dollop of whipped cream instead.

Gremolata is traditionally made with chopped garlic, parsley, and lemon peel; this one incorporates chopped hazelnuts and uses orange peel instead of lemon.

Not as rich as pecans, hazelnuts make for a delicious new spin on a southern classic. Use Grade B maple syrup for intense maple flavor.

Dried dates, cranberries, and figs become an almost-effortless filling for this elegant tart.

Serve a platter of cookies alongside the pears and ice cream. The night before you make the cookies, place the dried cherries in a small bowl of crème de cassis. The soaking will infuse the fruit with the flavor of the black-currant liqueur.

They look like sticky buns, but these sweet, gooey treats are actually made from biscuit batter. They're great with brunch.

Hazelnuts stand in for almonds in this tasty version of the classic Spanish sauce romesco.

The sauce packs a great hazelnut crunch, and Madeira's nutty flavors bring it all together.

The squid in this entrée is tender and picks up the flavors it's cooked with.

Not your average sundae: Strawberry sorbet takes the place of ice cream; Prosecco sabayon (an airy, foamy custard) is the sauce; and sugared almonds add crunch.

Juicy chicken with a crunchy nut coating and a sauce that's both fruity and savory: a terrific dinner-party dish.

You'll turn up your nose at plain old chocolate chip ice cream once you try this cool, stracciatella-flavored concoction—stracciatella being a vanilla-flavored cream with thin ribbons or chips of chocolate (which melt on the tongue) running through it. The stracciatella cream fills this semifreddo-like cake, which also shines with a toasted-almond cookie-crumb base, a toasted-almond topping, and a drizzle of espresso fudge sauce.

Food editor Gina Marie Miraglia Eriquez picked up her technique for grilling pizza during a college visit to Al Forno, in Providence, Rhode Island. Here, she tops that irresistibly charred crust with ingredients that have a natural affinity for one another: sweet cooked-down onions, toasted walnuts, and the bite of Gorgonzola.