Maggie Ruggiero

These colorful tartlets are quite simple to put together. One easy custard recipe is the basis for a trio of very different fillings (the ingredients can be doubled or tripled if one is a real favorite).

Talk about a sandwich with bravado: The bold flavors start with the smear of green-olive-flecked oil on the chewy, rustic rolls. Then come the layers of juicy sausages, piquant arugula, and piquillos. The fire-roasted sweet red peppers from Spain are well worth seeking out for their tenderness and subtle, smoky heat.

In July, the abundance of ripe tomatoes means making your own tomato juice is a breeze, and fresh juice, in turn, means a truly superb Bloody Mary. With a range in the amounts of horseradish, Tabasco, and lemon juice, you can customize the drinks to your liking. The final flourish, rimming the glasses with sea salt and black pepper, adds a slight tingle to each sip.

By its very nature, a Pavlova is a little wild—as proved by these three tiers of airy meringue, which crack and crumble to reveal marshmallowy interiors while the berries' juices puddle all over drifts of whipped cream. And that playful mix of textures and flavors sure tastes delicious. Meringues aren't usually made with moist brown sugar, but here it adds a deeper kind of sweetness. Baking them in cake pans, another unusual technique, helps these meringues crisp up.

Salads made with hearty romaine stand up well to strong flavors like garlic, lemon, and pungent Parmigiano-Reggiano. The chopped anchovies lend depth and savor, not fishiness, to the dressing.

Here comes the sun: Topped with graceful fans of candied fennel and bathed in a golden syrup, this lemony upside-down cake is a cheery sight. The fennel's subtle sweetness and beautiful form are quite sophisticated, but the cake's buttermilk crumb is pure homey delight. A cloud of whipped cream makes a fitting accompaniment.

This handsome roast elicited oohs and aahs in the test kitchen when Ruggiero pulled it out of the oven, and the succulent meat disappeared in a flurry of forks. The rosemary, thyme, sage, and savory sprigs on which the pork loin roasts infuse the meat and mingle with its mustard and shallot cloak. The luscious sauce is argument enough for keeping a bottle of dry vermouth on hand.

Ruggiero freely admits that she developed this recipe out of laziness. Tiny pearl onions require fiddly peeling, but replacing some of the onions with red grapes alleviates much of that tedious work. It's a shortcut that pays delicious dividends: The grapes' juicy pop plays nicely against the pork. A Sherry-vinegar glaze contributes a winey complexity to the sweet onions and fruit, tying the dish together.

Hams with a thick honey glaze can sometimes be too cloying. This recipe takes a more balanced approach that results in a light sweetness and a beautiful shine.

A basket full of freshly baked rolls adds a welcoming touch to any holiday table. Combining the crunch of a cracker with the tender yeastiness of bread, these little numbers are especially fun.

Food editor Maggie Ruggiero was humming for weeks after enjoying a salad of fresh buffalo mozzarella, cucumber, and the Italian wheat called farro at the Manhattan restaurant Il Buco. She set about reimagining it, and her version’s accents—tender lettuce, basil, and a light, lemony dressing—beautifully complement the cheese. Since fresh mozzarella is the star here, it's essential to use the best you can find. We love the kind traditionally made in Italy from the milk of water buffalo for its custardlike texture and sweet, milky tang. Recently, some American producers have gotten in on the act as well.

Why should kids have all the fun? A lovely way to keep the conversation going long after dessert, these soft, aromatic little confections are like Peeps for adults. Lillet perfumes the marshmallows with orange and honey notes and gives them a haunting buzz.