Skye Gyngell

Because when you call it a pizzetta, it's totally okay to have an extra slice.

Poached frozen peaches eat like fruit-shaped sorbet and look like a three-dimensional sunset.

At the height of summer, this is exactly the kind of simple, flavor-packed salad we want for dinner.

These traditional almond cookies hail from Tuscany; their texture is chewy, similar to macaroons.

Dorade, red snapper, or black bass fillets all work great in this summery roasted fish dinner.

During summer months, find zucchini blossoms at specialty grocers or at farmers’ markets. Halved scallions can be used instead, and small shrimp can stand in for the squid.

This elegant, light salad is ideal to serve as a first course. Pink grapefruit and peppery watercress cut the richness of avocado, and a scattering of toasted hazelnuts and hazelnut oil in the dressing suggest a flavor of early fall. Prosciutto is a graceful inclusion, but you can leave it out for a lighter vegetarian salad if you like.

Picada hails from Spain, or more specifically, from Catalonia. Flavored with nuts, bread crumbs, and herbs, it is a punchy, vibrant paste—often used as a sauce to enliven dishes, and to thicken stews. Here it partners full-flavored skirt steak and elegant escarole lettuce, which is just wilted to serve as a vegetable. Like romesco, there are plenty of other uses for picada, if you have any leftover.

The beauty and subtlety of wild garlic makes this dish very appealing, and fresh curry leaves add a fragrance that is quite seductive. During the summer months we pod fresh coco beans and cook them directly in the curry until soft. In winter we soak dried cannellini beans overnight and precook them in water for an hour or so over gentle heat, with one or two herbs added for flavor. I like to serve this curry just as it is, but you could add chunks of white fish to it.

These cozy, warm little desserts are just the sort of thing I like to eat when the weather turns cool. Like most people, I tend to have dessert as an occasional treat, rather than as a regular occurrence; these, however, I find almost impossible to resist. I like to eat them warm and steaming with thick cold cream—and sometimes a spoonful of warm honey, laced with grated lemon and orange zest.

The beauty and subtlety of wild garlic makes this dish very appealing, and fresh curry leaves add a fragrance that is quite seductive. During the summer months, we shell fresh coco beans and cook them directly in the curry until soft. In winter, we soak dried cannellini beans overnight and precook them in water for an hour or so over gentle heat, with one or two herbs added for flavor. I like to serve this curry just as it is, but you could add chunks of white fish to it.

This rich, creamy gratin of beautiful white asparagus wrapped in a cozy blanket is delicious paired with a simple roast chicken. A leafy green salad—tossed with a dressing that has a note of acidity—is the only other accompaniment you need. Alternatively, you can serve this gratin as it is, with some warm bread to mop up the sauce and, perhaps, some finely sliced porcini mushrooms on the side, dressed with no more than beautiful olive oil, sea salt, and black pepper.