Serving Tonight | Flavorful recipes you can look forward to serving tonight

Coffee-Rubbed Smoked Pork Butt

In northeastern North Carolina, and several other parts of the country, summer really isn’t summer without smoked pork. That said, neither is fall, winter, or spring. This kind of cooking is a ritual and usually carries some subtext of a super relaxed afternoon, day-drinking, and some good company. The day before we made this Coffee-Rubbed Smoked Pork Butt, I’d been writing an article for Mashed about adding coffee to your steak rub. I couldn’t get the dang idea out of my mind, except I wanted to test it out on pork. So after some thought, I added ground coffee to Bon Appetit’s very basic 4-3-2-1 Spice Rub. Immediately, I knew it was all my luscious little pork butt needed. The rich, roasty, slightly bitter flavor of the coffee married perfectly with paprika, salt, sugar, and cayenne. The only thing left to add was a little smoke.

Coffe Rub Spice Blend — Coffee Rub Spice Blend

Pasta with Fresh Tomato Butter Sauce

In honor of this very delicious tomato season, here is another fresh tomato recipe! This one comes in the form of a light, buttery sauce coating thin spaghetti, garnished with bunches and bunches of fresh basil, and a little grated Parm (if that’s your style). Ya’ll. It’s so good and perfect and easy. I made it for lunch the other day and I’m not usually someone who drags out a pan and lights up the stove for lunch. But these fresh, juicy tomatoes were calling my name.

Fresh Tomato Basil Tart

The sun and the rain and the air have been really good to us on the OBX this summer and we have tomatoes for days. And basil is growing like a weed! I am reluctant to cook fresh garden tomatoes too much. Considering how sweet and juicy they are, it feels like a vegetable crime. But sometimes, an idea comes along that’s too good to resist and splaying these fresh tomatoes out all over a buttery, flaky tart dough showered with tons of fresh basil seemed like the best possible move. It’s like summertime on a plate. If the tomatoes in my tart picture look too round and uniform to have been homegrown by me, you are correct. I bought these from the farmer’s market because mine weren’t ripe enough yet. But, a week or so later, I proudly swung in from the garden with these beauties! Some of whom are definitely destined for another Fresh Tomato Basil Tart. Or, maybe this buttery tomato pasta? TBD.

White Garlic Pizza Sauce

Obsessed with this sauce. Officially. Of course I’m obsessed because it combines roasted garlic with a creamy, parmesan-loaded mixture of butter and milk, and it goes on pizza. What’s not to love? I’ve gone on record before about my affinity for all things roasted garlic: noodles, pizza dough, butter, etc. This shirt pretty much says it all for me, except insert the word “roasted”. This is just one more excellent use for all that sweet, golden goodness. If you’ve never had roasted garlic before, you might think an entire head of it sounds like too much for one batch of pizza sauce. But you would be wrong! Roasting garlic transforms the harsh bite of raw garlic into something smooth and subtle, all in just about 45 minutes in a hot oven. It’s magic.

Garlicky White Pizza with Kale and Mushrooms

Lately, anything hanging around in our kitchen becomes an excuse to make pizza and I kind of love it. Since this pizza dough recipe makes enough for two pizzas, I always seem to have some in the freezer. I’m stuck in a pizza loop and highly recommend you get stuck in one too. I posted the recipe for the topping to this pizza, Mushrooms and Kale with Breadcrumbs, last week, alluding to this moment, and today is the day! This garlicky, veggie-loaded pizza, with fluffy clouds of ricotta and a balsamic drizzle (if you’re fancy) is all yours!

charred veggies equal awesome pizza

There’s nothing wrong with a meat and cheese pizza, but the vegetables on this puppy really send it over the top. (That, and all the roasted garlic cooked into the white sauce. Duh🤷‍♀️) Since the kale and mushrooms are already cooked before they’re loaded onto this pizza, they end up powerroasting while it bakes. That’s a new term I’m throwing out there just for this recipe. Powerroasting (verb): deeply charring food, resulting in irresistibly delicious texture. It’s so good but, just a word of caution, the kale and mushrooms will change colors to dark green and brown… almost black? Don’t be scared, its exactly what you want. Charred perfection.

Garlicky White Pizza with Kale and Mushrooms

Mushrooms and Kale with Breadcrumbs

So exited to bring you this super elegant but also super effortless veggie recipe today! It’s sort of a means to an end, really. Spoiler alert, the end is pizza with this mushroom/kale combo on top! And a white pizza sauce with an obscene amount of garlic. But you’ll have to wait till next week for that. For now, make this, make extra of it, and save the leftovers for the pizza.

This beautiful mess of wilty kale and crispy-brown mushrooms came about when I cooked it up to go alongside roast beef the other night and, despite my deep carnivorism, it was my favorite thing on the plate. So, here it is for you!

Brown Sugar Pecan Banana Bread

Guaranteed worth getting out of bed for: a slice of Brown Sugar Pecan Banana Bread, toasted in the toaster, spread with butter, and sprinkled with flaky sea salt. Sigh… I love it. I’ve been plating this up for breakfast all week and, really, it’s the best. Can we talk about that dark brown, toasty crust on the exterior? Thank you, brown sugar. The only downside to this banana bread? I don’t think dogs are supposed to eat pecans and Bear desperately wants Joey and me to share.

5-Minute, No-Cook Pizza Sauce

When the homemade stuff is better than store bought and almost as fast as opening a jar 🙌 That is this 5-Minute, No-Cook Pizza Sauce! Guys, can I tell you how happy it makes me to have finally come up with this recipe? This is years of bad, overly sweet or boringly bland pizza sauce in the making. Finally, my well-balanced, salty/sweet and perfectly acidic sauce dreams are a reality.

Salami and Hot Pepper Sicilian Pizza With just the sauce on top

Beef and Arugula Meatballs

When life gives you wilting arugula, make meatballs! These Beef and Arugula Meatballs are my go-to for an easy weeknight meal/appetizer and a swift rescue for a bag of arugula that is quickly yellowing, on the verge of becoming slimy, in my fridge. We’ve all been here, right? Yellow? Sad? Yes.

Radish Greens Salsa

We’re growing a garden!! It’s happening! It’s the pride and joy of my covid #stayhome experience. Cleared, amended, and planted in April… and needing to be weeded almost every day since. Now that I am an official gardener, with all of 1 month’s experience under my belt, I want to share a tip with everyone: GROW RADISHES! Especially if you lack confidence and know-how, like me. Grow radishes.