Carla Lalli Music is a James Beard Award-winning and bestselling cookbook author and the former food director at Bon Appétit. Trained at the French Culinary Institute, she started her career as a line cook and later became the first general manager at Shake Shack. Carla lives in Brooklyn with her family.

Carla Lalli Music

Carla Lalli Music's Brothy Wheat Berries and Parm

Brothy Wheat Berries and Parm

Meet The Creator

Do you like happiness? If you don’t, then this recipe isn’t for you. But if you do, then let’s make my macaroni and cheese together. This is the dish that put me on the map. It’s the one everyone talks about and the one that every person who comes over for dinner begs me to make. And the beauty is, it’s so simple. You’ll have friends begging you for this recipe.

Macaroni and Cheese

Samantha Seneviratne's Chicken and Clam Paella

Chicken and Clam Paella

Samantha Seneviratne's Ham and Cheese Strata

Ham and Cheese Strata

Citrus and Herb Vinaigrette

The first step to this recipe is to make a rich mushroom stock, which packs enormous mushroom flavor intensity, adding depth to any recipe where stock is used. When sourcing the fresh mushrooms, look for larger ones because they’ll hold up to the braise. Clusters of lion's mane, oyster mushrooms, and maitake mushrooms can often be found at specialty grocery stores (but white button mushrooms can be substituted). To prep them, pull apart the clusters into 3-inch chunks. The final product is an umami-filled dish with brightness from the orange juice. Enjoy it as a veggie-forward main or a hearty side dish.

Katie Button's Orange and Honey Braised Mushrooms

Orange and Honey Braised Mushrooms

Samantha Seneviratne's Crepes with Lemon and Sugar

Crêpes with Lemon and Sugar

Hot Dogs and Rice

Eduardo Garcia's Shrimp and Merguez Paella

Shrimp and Merguez Paella

I love a one-pot meal that also feels extra-special, and paella makes that kind of meal. This Spanish dish of rice, vegetables and meat or seafood packs flavor and simplicity into one skillet. A large pan of paella is festive, colorful and serves a crowd — it’s just right for a celebratory dinner with friends and family. Making the vegetable-and-aromatic sofrito is a key step in cooking paella and acts as the dish’s flavor base. I like a combination of mussels, shrimp and lobster tails in the seafood version of the dish, but you can easily tailor it to your favorite types of seafood.

Elizabeth Poett's Seafood and Asparagus Paella

Seafood and Asparagus Paella

These fritters are inspired by my time in Spain. We would order them all the time out, and the señora I lived with would make them because she knew how much I loved them!

Elizabeth Poett's Potato Fritters with Manchego and Prosciutto

Potato Fritters with Manchego and Prosciutto

Pavlova with Passion Fruit and Raspberries

For marinated mushrooms, I usually select a combination of baby bella and shiitake mushrooms. They are tender and lend a pretty, deep brown color to the dish. Lion’s mane, oyster and button mushrooms would also work well here. To clean the mushrooms, trim the stem and gently remove dirt or debris. For shiitakes, remove the entire stem from each mushroom because it’s usually too fibrous to eat. Shiitake stems can be dried in a paper bag in the fridge and used to make stock at a later date. Use marinated mushrooms in salads, on charcuterie boards, or enjoy as is for a healthy snack. Make a vinaigrette with the leftover marinade or use it for a second batch of marinated mushrooms!

Katie Button's Seared and Marinated Mushrooms

Seared and Marinated Mushrooms

You will see in my recipes that I use the same levain build, or a slightly modified version of it, when I mix bread. Whether the final bread is enriched, sweet, or rustic, I find this levain build to work just fine. There are many, many ways to build a levain but I believe using this one build makes life at home easy.

Sourdough Starter and Levain

Cheese and Chicken Arepas

I love to eat all kinds of food, but in all honesty if you told me I could have only one thing every day for the rest of my life, it would be mac and cheese. I realize this is exactly the choice that many eight-year-olds I know would make, and I’m okay with that. I first had this recipe, which has become my favorite, at my friend Becki’s house. Her family has become a part of our own, and she knows just how much I love mac and cheese. It has become a tradition of ours that every time we join her family for dinner at their house, she makes this side for us. It’s simple and creamy enough to please all the kids, while the blend of cheeses and optional crispy panko topping makes it feel interesting to adults. Since I started making this recipe for my own family, my favorite things to pair it with are Almond Chicken Tenderloins (page 211) or Meat Loaf (page 259).

Becki's Mac and Cheese

Garlic and Green Olive Focaccia

Joanna Gaines's Arugula and Prosciutto Pizza

Arugula and Prosciutto Pizza with Caramelized Onions, Ricotta, and Balsamic Glaze

Grilled Pizza with Tomato, Mozzarella, and Basil

Abner & Amanda's Smashed Beef Burgers and Sauce

Smashed Beef Burgers and Sauce

Aside from the traditional eggs Benedict, hollandaise is best accompanied by fresh vegetables, cooked to perfection. This recipe covers two of my favorites, with two different preparations: asparagus and artichokes. Blanching helps quick-cooking vegetables maintain vibrancy and a snappy texture, so it works perfectly for the asparagus. Blanching is also great for broccoli in a broccoli salad or green beans, fennel, peas, and carrots. Meanwhile, artichokes can be a bit more intimidating. They are oddly shaped, very firm, and thorny. After trimming and boiling in well-seasoned water, the leaves slip off to expose the tender underside, making them the perfect vessel to scoop a bit of tasty hollandaise.

Katie Button's Asparagus and Artichokes with Hollandaise

Brothy Wheat Berries and Parm

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