Nothing says summer like a steak on the grill! These beautiful New York steaks are perfectly grilled, then topped with bleu cheese butter that, once it is placed on top of the hot steaks, melts and creates this beautiful, cheesy buttery sauce. The combination of the bleu cheese and the grilled meat is just heavenly. The butter can be made ahead and kept at the ready and can be used on a variety of other dishes. Slice a piece and put it on top of the chicken, fish, or in a baked potato. It freezes well too.

A galette is a French term for a free-form dessert in which the pastry is rolled out into a large circle, then it is topped with fruits, and the edges of the pastry are gathered around the fruit giving it an elegant, but rustic appearance, making each galette unique and special, The Italian’s call this dessert a crostata. The pastry is foolproof, easy to make, and freezes well. Today we’re filling the galette with apricots that are then tucked into that beautiful pastry, topped with a little sugar, and baked until brown and bubbling. The pastry is crisp and flaky, and the apricots are sweet caramelized gems. Topped with ice cream, this is a sublime way to end a summer day!

These long, skinny, crunchy, herby, and cheesy breadsticks are positively addictive! They are the perfect for your aperitivo and pair very well with a cool and refreshing Aperol Spritz, one of my favorite summertime cocktails, very elegantly served in a stem glass with lots of ice. Together, they are perfect for sitting on the patio and enjoying the colorful sunset. I like to make my cocktail 1 part Aperol liqueur, 2 parts prosecco or sparkling wine, and a splash of soda.

One of my favorite summer memories is planting vegetables for a summer garden with my children. This dish captures that memory of a summer garden, that unbelievable flavor of just-picked veggies. If you don’t have a garden, find a local farmers markets for the freshest produce. A layer of sautéd onions, peppers, and garlic that’s then topped with thinly sliced eggplant, zucchini, yellow squash, and tomatoes. The flavors are perfectly married together, a balance of sweetness & summer goodness. It’s as beautiful to look at as to eat.

This is one of my favorite salads to make. It makes an excellent starter dish, served along the main course or can be served as a light main dish. The crispy pancetta, sautéed onion, and wilted spinach are all tossed together with orzo pasta and a lemony basil vinaigrette. Crunchy toasted walnuts and creamy feta are tossed in and really complete this dish. One thing I love about this salad is that there are so many different kinds of feta to experiment with. I prefer the French feta because of the balance of creaminess and saltiness, but I am currently working my way through the feta counter at the Middle Eastern market near me. They are so superior in taste to the pre-crumbled packages at the market. I encourage you to try and find a market near you. It makes a great salad to enjoy under the setting sun in the summer air.

There’s nothing better than grilling in the summer. The smoky charred flavor that the grill imparted on food is just wonderful, and nothing says summer like grilling. You get to be outside, and your kitchen is free from the heat and the mess. This simple, tangy, and herby marinade adds a fantastic punch to the perfectly grilled chicken and is sure to be a hit at your summer dinner party. This recipe calls for boneless chicken thighs, which I think definitely have more flavor than the breast meat. They are also more forgiving when cooking since they have a little more fat than breast meat, but not so much that you don’t have to feel guilty. And of course, you’ll still have room for dessert!

This is one of the most delicious combinations for a summer dessert! Fresh berries and a buttery, crumbly topping. It’s a classic. I like to use a combination of whatever berries are at the farmers market. Topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, it’s heaven in a dish. It’s sure to be a hit at your house too that I’m sure you’ll be making it all summertime. Just don’t tell anyone how easy it really is!

This is a traditional Italian bread salad I like to make with lightly toasted ciabatta bread, cucumbers, a selection of summer’s best tomatoes and basil, then tossed with a light vinaigrette. The bread is slightly crunchy, slightly drenched in the vinaigrette. The crunch of the cucumbers and the sweetest of the tomatoes and basil makes this a salad that is truly is summertime in a bowl!

This is one of my favorite summer dishes. The word gratin has two meanings: one is an oval-shaped baking dish; second, a topping that is browned. You can use whatever baking dish you have, it will not affect the taste. The onions, garlic, and tomatoes are cooked down to a jam-like consistency, topped with layers of eggplant and a ricotta-yogurt mixture, finished with a sprinkle of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese that is slightly browned. This dish is fantastic for great entertaining since it can be made ahead. You can serve it as a starter, or alongside your main dish. I love it the next day with a fried egg on top for breakfast or a light lunch. 

When thinking of summer grilling, a boneless leg of lamb is probably not usually what comes first to mind.  Lamb has somehow gotten a bad rap of having a very strong flavor and taste. This recipe I believe will change the minds of even the biggest lamb skeptics out there. The boneless leg of lamb is “ butterflied” which is a culinary term to cut a thick piece of meat into a thinner thickness. The lamb is marinated and then perfectly grilled. Smoky charred on the outside, juicy on the inside and, served with a simple fresh herb pistou sauce, this just may make it to the top of your outdoor grilling repertoire!

Nothing says summer like fresh-off-the-tree fruits!  I was inspired by a sack of peaches my neighbor gave me fresh off of her tree one evening right before dinner. I didn’t have time to make a crostata, galette or pie, but I was craving that sweet syrupiness of the cooked fruit and sugar! So here we mix up a simple sauce of butter, honey, and Moscato that turns into a beautifully thick heavenly glaze for the peaches in just 15 minutes.  Served over vanilla ice cream….it’s a sublime way to end a meal!

This pasta is a simple recipe, with just a few ingredients, but overflows with flavor. Grape or cherry tomatoes are roasted in the oven until their tomato flavor is intensified into sweet caramelized little jewels. When you bite into them, they just explode with flavor. It takes a little bit of cooking time to achieve this, but it’s so worth it. They can be cooked in advance, and then added to the sauce at serving time. In the summer time, I roast them often and keep them on hand to sprinkle in other dishes to give them a pop of that tangy, intensely sweet tomato goodness! The sauce is so simple: the roasted tomatoes, onions, basil, my favorite cheese, Parmigiano-Reggiano and a little of the pasta cooking water coat the pasta and turn it into a sublimely delicious dish that is light, but so packed with flavor.

“Saltimbocca” translates into “jump in the mouth”. This classic dish is traditionally made with meat, such as veal or pork, but I thought it would be fun to try with fish. The fish is topped with sage leaves and wrapped in prosciutto. The whole dish came together in 15 minutes, quick and easy for a weeknight meal, but a great dish for entertaining because the fish-wraps can be prepared in advance and just popped into the oven before serving. 

“Semifreddo” translates into “slightly soft”. Semifreddos can be made with a variety of ingredients that span a wide range of flavor profiles. In this menu, we are making an Orange Pistachio Semifreddo. When you cut into it, there’s a soft, pillowy texture that is just dreamy. The combination of orange and Cointreau adds a sweet tartness. The pistachios add the perfect blend of crunchy saltiness that completely balances the pasta and fish courses, and is the perfect way to end a meal. 

No brunch would be complete without a festive bubbly cocktail! Bellinis were created at Harry’s Bar in Venice. It is a combination of peach purée and Prosecco. But, I honestly prefer to serve it with a dry, brut sparkling wine. Whichever bubbles you choose, either way, this cocktail is delicious.  

Nothing says the arrival of spring like beautiful bunches of asparagus and fresh artichokes at the market. In the past, I have made this dish with fresh baby artichokes that I have to peel and clean. But, there were none at the market, so I’m using frozen artichoke hearts. The frozen artichokes paired very well with the fresh asparagus. They taste quite nice and are absolutely no work at all. We perfectly steam the asparagus and artichoke hearts, than toss them with a tangy vinaigrette and top with some roasted hazelnuts. Serve as a lovely first course or along side the main dish. I’ll be making this recipe all season since it goes so well with so many different meats and fish dishes. 

Torta Pasqualina. “Torta” means cake in Italian, but this is really a savory Italian pie traditionally served for Easter brunch.  It’s so wonderfully satisfying that I bet that you will want to make it so much more often than just one time a year. This savory dish is positively addictive and so easy to cut and serve, making it portable and an ideal lunch, picnic, or snack dish.

In this day and age, coffee cakes are often overlooked as an addition to a brunch menu. Upstaged by bars, muffins and donuts. That is too bad, because to me this is the very best coffee cake. Kinda old school, something you would find at a good diner bakery case. It has a moist cake, a crumbly topping, and isn’t too sweet. When cut into squares, it reveals all the berry goodness in the center. It is perfect for serving with your brunch, with a cup of coffee, or maybe with another Bellini! 

A beautiful purée of celery root and fennel, two perfect winter root vegetables, that are cooked with leeks, garlic, stock and a little bit of milk, and then puréed into a beautiful soup that is creamy in taste but light on the calories. Top with a drizzle of pistachio oil and chopped pistachios that give it that elegant restaurant appeal.

Ducks are fowl, but the strange thing is the breast meat has the texture more of red meat. So, for this recipe we marinated the meat in soy, orange juice, and vinegar and then sauté it, rendering out the fat to produce a crispy skin and cook it to medium rare, similar to cooking a piece of steak. We finish the dish with a beautiful pan sauce flavored with Moscato wine and garnish with orange sections. This dish is very elegant and sophisticated.