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Courses & dish types
Main courses recipes
The centre of the plate.
36 recipes
Slow-Cooked Beef Ragu
Coarse beef mince browned in batches then held at a bare simmer for three hours, finished in the pan with the pasta.
4 hr 5 minServes 6
Main coursesDinnerBeef
by zestykestrel
Cacio e Pepe
Spaghetti in a sauce of nothing but pecorino, black pepper and starchy pasta water, emulsified off the heat so it stays smooth.
22 minServes 2
Main coursesDinner30 minutes
by quietgecko
Roast Chicken with Lemon and Thyme
A whole chicken salted and left uncovered in the fridge before roasting hot then moderate, so the skin crisps and the breast stays juicy.
1 hr 40 minServes 4
Main coursesDinnerChicken
by quietgecko
Crisp-Skinned Salmon
Salmon fillets cooked almost entirely on the skin side in one pan, which crisps the skin and leaves the flesh barely set.
15 minServes 2
Main coursesDinner30 minutes
by readylemur
Classic Margherita Pizza
Three toppings, nothing hidden — this is the pizza that shows whether your dough is any good.
32 minServes 2
Main coursesDinner
by cosypuffin
Kulebyaka
An enriched pastry loaf layered with salmon, rice, egg and dill, baked until the crust sounds hollow.
1 hr 45 minServes 6
Main courses
Mushroom Julienne
Mushrooms baked in a bechamel-style sauce under grated cheese, in individual dishes, browned under the grill.
50 minServes 4
Main courses
Pozharsky Cutlets
Breaded minced-chicken cutlets enriched with butter and cream-soaked bread, fried until the crust is deep gold.
50 minServes 4
Main courses
Zharkoye
Beef, potato and root vegetables braised slowly in one pot until the meat pulls apart under a fork.
3 hr 5 minServes 4
Main courses
Chickpea and Spinach Stew
Dried chickpeas cooked from scratch and thickened with fried bread pounded to a paste, which is how Seville gets body without cream.
2 hr 10 minServes 4
Main courses
Warm Farro and Roast Squash Bowl
Farro boiled like pasta and dressed while it is still hot, under roast squash, crisped kale and feta, so it eats as a meal.
1 hrServes 4
Main courses
Slow-Cooked Black Dal
Whole urad soaked overnight and simmered for hours until it turns black and glossy, then finished with butter and a little cream.
3 hr 50 minServes 6
Main courses
Mujaddara
Lentils and rice cooked in one pot under a mound of onions fried well past golden, which is where the whole flavour comes from.
1 hr 15 minServes 4
Main courses
Pelmeni
Small meat dumplings in thin dough, boiled until they float and served with smetana or with butter and vinegar.
1 hr 12 minServes 4
Main courses
Buckwheat Kasha with Mushrooms
Buckwheat toasted dry, then cooked pilaf-style with onion and mushrooms so the grains stay separate.
50 minServes 4
Main courses
Vareniki
Larger Ukrainian dumplings filled with potato and fried onion or with sweetened curd, boiled and dressed in butter.
1 hr 25 minServes 4
Main courses
Potato Gnocchi with Sage Butter
Baked potatoes riced while hot and bound with as little flour as they will take, which is the difference between light gnocchi and bullets.
1 hr 55 minServes 4
Main courses
Golubtsy
Cabbage leaves rolled around seasoned mince and rice, then braised slowly in tomato and soured cream.
2 hr 20 minServes 4
Main courses
Kotlety
Everyday Soviet-era mince patties bound with milk-soaked bread, which keeps them tender rather than springy.
40 minServes 4
Main courses
Plov
Rice steamed over lamb, carrot and cumin in a heavy pot, left unstirred so the grains stay separate.
2 hr 15 minServes 6
Main courses
Shashlik
Cubed lamb marinated in grated onion and vinegar, then grilled on flat skewers over embers until charred at the edges.
50 minServes 6
Main courses
Chicken and Prawn Paella
Bomba rice cooked flat and never stirred in a wide pan, which keeps the grains separate and toasts a crust onto the base.
1 hr 15 minServes 4
Main courses
Beef Chow Mein
Beef coated in cornflour and seared in batches in a pan hot enough to smoke, with the sauce going in only at the very end.
40 minServes 4
Main courses
Pork and Fennel Meatballs
Pork mince bound with a milk and bread panade and toasted fennel seed, browned in a pan and finished in tomato sauce.
1 hr 10 minServes 4
Main courses
Spaghetti alla Puttanesca
A store-cupboard sauce of anchovies, olives, capers and chilli melted into tomato, salty enough that it needs no cheese and barely any salt.
40 minServes 4
Main courses
Egg Fried Rice
Yesterday's rice broken up cold and fried hard in a wide pan, so the grains stay separate and toast instead of steaming to paste.
22 minServes 2
Main courses
Roast Leg of Lamb with Garlic and Rosemary
A bone-in leg studded with garlic and rosemary, roasted hot then moderate and pulled off the heat pink, with gravy made in the tin.
1 hr 35 minServes 6
Main courses
Beef and Ale Stew with Herb Dumplings
Chuck steak simmered in dark ale until it gives, with suet dumplings steamed on the surface of the pot for the last half hour.
4 hrServes 6
Main courses
Chicken Thigh and Potato Traybake
Bone-in thighs roasted on top of potatoes and lemon in one tin, so the skin crisps above the juices rather than poaching in them.
1 hr 10 minServes 4
Main courses
Beef Stroganoff
Strips of beef seared fast and finished in a soured-cream and mustard sauce that is warmed through rather than boiled.
45 minServes 4
Main courses
Mushroom Risotto
Carnaroli rice cooked in stock a ladle at a time and beaten with butter at the end, so it spreads on the plate rather than sitting in a heap.
50 minServes 4
Main courses
Chicken Kiev
Crumbed chicken breast sealed around garlic-and-herb butter, chilled hard so the filling stays in until cutting.
55 minServes 4
Main courses
Baked Lasagne
Ragu and béchamel layered thin between dried pasta sheets, baked until the top blisters and rested so it cuts into squares.
1 hr 30 minServes 8
Main courses
Spaghetti Carbonara
Guanciale, egg yolk and pecorino brought together off the heat into a glossy sauce, with no cream anywhere near the pan.
25 minServes 2
Main courses
Weeknight Red Lentil Dal
Red lentils simmered down to a loose puree with turmeric, then finished with cumin, mustard seed and garlic bloomed in hot ghee.
45 minServes 4
Main coursesDinner
by zestykestrel
Slow-Braised Beef Shin
Beef shin browned hard then cooked for hours at a bare simmer, until the collagen melts and the meat falls apart under a fork.
4 hrServes 4
Main coursesDinnerBeef
by readylemur