It’s no secret that Bon Appétit editors cook a lot for work. So it should come as no surprise that we cook a lot during our off hours too. Here are the recipes we’re whipping up this month to get dinner on the table, entertain our friends, satisfy a sweet tooth, use up leftovers, and everything in between. For even more staff favorites, click here.

October 3

Fritters to cherish summer

This was the summer I became a person who likes summer. I don’t know if it’s because I spent a lot of it in air-conditioning, but for the first time summer didn’t feel like a soupy slog I simply had to endure. I embraced the sweat running down my back, relished the late sunsets, and enjoyed every farmers market. I am fully in denial that it’s over, and just this week bought four pounds of zucchini to make me feel better. I made zucchini keftedes for dinner to use up my hopefully-not-last-of-the-season stash. Eyeballing almost everything, I definitely skipped the mint (because I hate it so), and used olive oil instead of canola for frying. The breadcrumbs are a genius touch—the reason, I believe, these fritters are juicy and tender rather than gummy and soggy, the way fritters bound with flour tend to be. They were gone a little too soon, just like my first favorite summer. —Shilpa Uskokovic, senior test kitchen editor

Zucchini Keftedes with Feta and Dill

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Tomato tart

I sliced my last bunch (perhaps for the year?) of tiny heirloom tomatoes thinly to layer onto mascarpone-slicked puff pastry, a nod to a late-summer classic from the New York Times. My version made some tweaks, but I think the similarities are obvious. I layered in whisper-thin wedges from a quarter of a red onion, dusted it with ancho chile flakes, and drizzled the whole thing with olive oil that I’d infused with a grated garlic clove. When the tart emerged from the oven, edges puffed, I dolloped on mounds of cottage cheese, doused with more olive oil, and sprinkled it with a shower of chopped cilantro. Ah, summer. We barely knew ye. —Joe Sevier, senior editor, SEO and cooking

Branzino for Monday supper

When I cook fish at home, I usually default to salmon. It’s not too pricey and widely available (plus there are enough salmon recipes to fill up a whole year of meals). But I also love branzino. I’ll always order it at a restaurant, and every time I make it I’m reminded how delicious it can be with just salt, pepper, lemon, and some herbs. The branzino this week was extra special because it came from Seatopia, a sustainable seafood subscription box, and was incredibly high-quality. I crisped up the skin and served it simply with a salsa verde, the last of the season’s farmers market tomatoes, and farfalle pasta. Most definitely the best Monday night supper I could dream up. —Kate Kassin, editorial operations manager

Crispy-Skinned Fish with Herb Sauce

You don’t need a culinary school degree to cook fish with skin as crunchy as a potato chip.

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Halloumi pasta salad

For the very first time in my life, I grew tomatoes. I watched a lot (I mean a lot) of YouTube videos, spoke to anyone I could at the community garden for advice, and got my hands dirty. The reward: plump beefsteak tomatoes. This is the gift that keeps on giving—even in the first week of October I’m still getting the love apple straight from the vine. I’ve eaten them straight up, on sandwiches, and the latest, in this Orechiette Salad With Halloumi Croutons from Yossy Arefi. Buttery fried cubes of halloumi get mixed with cooked pasta, Persian cucumbers, red onion, tender greens, and of course juicy tomato chunks. When tossed with a simple, vinegary dressing, all of the flavors sing. —Nina Moskowitz, associate editor, cooking

Cookies for any and all cravings

The best cookie hack? Make a double batch of dough, portion it out into balls on a sheet pan, freeze for about 10 minutes so they won’t stick together, then store in a zip-top bag in the freezer. This way, they’re ready to be baked off whenever I get a hankering for sweets. I’ve been making a different cookie recipe each week in my quest to be a more confident baker. I’ve learned about dough hydration, melted butter vs. softened, and so much more. This recipe has been on my want-to-make list for a while now—I’m toffee’s biggest fan. After making these, I’m not sure I’ll want to try another recipe. Skor bars are a non-negotiable addition; the cookies have the perfect toffee-to-chocolate ratio and wonderful texture. —Urmila Ramakrishnan, associate director of social media

Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies With Toffee

Prepare for these toffee-and-chocolate-laced brown butter cookies to ruin you for all others.

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Every September, I step up onto my soapbox to report for my self-appointed duty — one part desperate, one part cantankerous — to remind us that summer isn’t over yet. I beg us to put away the decorative gourds and pumpkin spice for just a tiny bit longer. It’s a slippery slope from “hooray, scarves!” and “look at that perfect rainbow of a tree!” to a very long winter where I forget what warmth feels like on my skin and I am beseeching us not to wish it away. Or, I struggle with change? Hm, it’s hard to tell!

These cabbage and halloumi skewers, like me, have their feet in both seasons: a heartier, warming vegetable but with flavors that still taste like weather warm enough to eat outside. If you haven’t grilled cabbage before, you’re in for a treat. Even on the most pathetic gas grill (i.e. mine), the thick leaves get a little sweet, a little smoky, and — as we’ve learned via this charred salt and vinegar cabbage, this roasted cabbage with walnuts and parmesan, and this crispy cabbage and cauliflower salad — the more char, the better. Thin slices of salty halloumi are threaded between the chunks of cabbage and they, too, taste astoundingly good grilled. The cheese was, in fact, designed for it. Finally, we make an herby, punchy mixture with garlic, lemon, capers, and red pepper and brush it all over and then my husband and I stand in the kitchen and wolf it all down and forget why we’d want to eat anything else for dinner.

The Smitten Kitchen now has two newsletters! The Smitten Kitchen Digest, my many years running Monday newsletter, is for catching up on all things SK: what’s new, announcements, fun things to read, and seasonal menu suggestions. The Weekly Yap, my new Friday newsletter, is all about everything off-the-menu and not always about cooking, like what I’m up to, into, great meals out, books, travel, and more. Sign up for both (free!) right here. If you’re already a Monday newsletter subscriber, you can add the Friday newsletter via your Substack settings > Subscriptions > The Smitten Kitchen Digest > Slide the toggle next to Off-The-Menu to receive the emails.

Big braiser news! In the 18 months since we launched the Staub x Smitten Kitchen Braiser, nothing has made me happier than seeing how many of you are cooking in it. It remains my forever, perfect pan — just the right size for weeknights, the right shape for sautéing, and the right depth for baking, roasting, and braising. Your number one request? More colors! And it’s finally happening. The Staub x Smitten Kitchen Braiser is now sold exclusively through Williams-Sonoma, which means that in addition to the original black, it comes in six! new! colors: Cranberry (bright red), Grenadine (deep red), Sage (light green), Basil (dark green), La Mer (dark blue-green), and Sapphire (dark blue). If you’re looking for inspiration for what to cook in your braiser, start here!

There’s no better time than late summer to make our ratatouille recipe. With in-season eggplant, zucchini, and bell peppers plus plenty of garlic and olive oil, the Provençal stew is a plant-based main dish that will please meat-eaters and vegetarians alike. It also gets better the longer it sits, making it an ideal candidate for making ahead for summer entertaining. This recipe makes about three quarts of ratatouille, so plan to have leftovers if you’re not feeding a crowd. Try tossing it with pasta, baking it with eggs, or simply freezing it and enjoying it on a cold winter day for a dose of summery warmth.

Why Ratatouille Should Be On Your Summer To-Do List

Ratatouille is a celebration of late-summer produce. Full of flavor and hearty without being heavy, it’s the kind of dish that improves the longer it sits in the fridge, making it perfect for a string of laidback lunches or easy entertaining. And while you can find the ingredients for it year-round at the supermarket, a ratatouille made in the dead of winter doesn’t compare with one made when each vegetable—from meaty eggplant to sweet bell pepper to mild-yet-earthy zucchini—is at its peak.

Like salad Niçoise and vegetable tian, this dish comes from Provence, the southeastern region of France known for its seasonal, vegetable-centric cooking and olive groves. As such, it features a hefty amount of olive oil—which adds a silky richness and keeps it from tasting too virtuous—plus there are plenty of herbs for an aromatic boost.

Ratatouille Dos and Don’ts

Don’t chop too finely: When prepping vegetables for ratatouille, aim for large, chunky pieces (roughly one-inch or so). It’s key to the dish’s rustic appearance and will ensure the vegetables don’t break down too much as they cook.

Do roast your tomatoes: This recipe leans on canned tomatoes, which eliminates the need to blanch and peel fresh ones. A quick stint in the oven concentrates their flavor and thickens the liquid, which keeps the ratatouille from tasting watery. Don’t be tempted to skip this step—it can be done while the eggplant drains and is worth turning on your oven for.

Do season as you go: Instead of waiting to season the ratatouille at the very end, add a bit of salt and pepper as you add in each vegetable. It will help bring out their natural flavor and make it easier to adjust the seasoning at the end.

Don’t overcook: Ratatouille should be more of a stew than a sauce. It’s ready to come off the stove when each vegetable is softened and tender—but not mushy. Taste it periodically as it simmers in step 4, erring on the side of underdone rather than overdone (especially if you plan to reheat it).

Learn how to make tomato sauce at home! Made with fresh tomatoes, this simple, flavorful recipe is perfect for serving on pasta, pizza, and more.

For me, making this homemade tomato sauce recipe is one of the highlights of late summer. Like bruschetta or a good Caprese salad, it’s something I only make at this time of year, when fresh tomatoes are sweet, juicy, and abundant.

This tomato sauce has a slightly looser, chunkier texture than my traditional marinara sauce, and its flavor is sweeter and fresher. If you have a garden full of tomatoes, it’s a great way to use them up, but even if you don’t, I hope you’ll try it. You can toss it with pasta or zucchini noodles, spread it on homemade pizza, or spoon it over crispy eggplant. No matter how you serve it, it’s a fantastic way to savor tomatoes while they’re at their best.

Fresh Tomato Sauce Recipe Ingredients

Let’s talk tomatoes! To make this homemade tomato sauce recipe, you’ll need 3 pounds of medium tomatoes on-the-vine. Because it calls for so many, I recommend seeking out high-quality tomatoes to make it. For the best results, make it in summer or early fall, when fresh tomatoes are in season.

If you want to make homemade tomato sauce at another time of year, check out this marinara sauce recipe. It calls for canned crushed tomatoes instead of fresh ones.

Got your tomatoes? Here’s what else you’ll need to make this recipe:

• Extra-virgin olive oil – It adds richness and depth of flavor.
• Shallot and garlic – They create the sauce’s savory base. Feel free to use finely chopped yellow onion if you don’t have a shallot on hand.
• Tomato paste – It helps thicken the sauce and deepens the tomato flavor.
• Balsamic vinegar – It adds a nice acidity.
• Cane sugar – Its sweetness offsets the tangy tomatoes and vinegar, creating a delicious, well-balanced sauce.
• Dried oregano and fresh basil – For fresh, aromatic flavor.
• Red pepper flakes – They add a little heat.
• And salt and pepper – To make all the flavors pop!

Find the complete recipe with measurements below.

How to Make Tomato Sauce

In my method for how to make tomato sauce, I start by removing the tomato skins and seeds. This step takes a little time, but it’s not at all hard. Just slice the tomatoes in half, and use a small spoon to scoop out the seeds.

Then, grate the cut side of each tomato half on the wide holes of a box grater. The tomato flesh will fall through the grater (make sure to set it over a bowl to catch all that tomatoey goodness!), and the skins will stay behind. You’ll discard the skins…

…and end up with a big bowl of crushed tomato flesh.

Then, cook the sauce. Start by sautéing the shallot and garlic in a medium pot or saucepan.

Next, add the grated tomatoes, balsamic, tomato paste, sugar, red pepper flakes, and fresh and dried herbs and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sauce has thickened. Remove and discard the basil sprig, and enjoy!

Homemade Tomato Sauce Serving Suggestions

Most often, I serve this fresh tomato sauce over pasta. Toss it with your favorite pasta shape for a flavorful, satisfying summer dinner. Tip: A few fresh basil leaves and some grated Parmesan (or vegan Parmesan) really take this meal over the top.

Not in the mood for pasta? Not a problem! Here are a few more ways to use this sauce:

Let me know what ideas you try!

More Seasonal Cooking Basics

If you love this fresh tomato sauce recipe, try making one of these homemade basics next:

Fresh Tomato Sauce

Prep Time: 20 minutes mins

Cook Time: 35 minutes mins

Total Time: 55 minutes mins

Serves 4

This homemade tomato sauce recipe is so fresh and delicious! Use it as a pasta sauce, or serve it on pizza, polenta, and more. Find additional serving suggestions in the post above.

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

• Slice the tomatoes in half and scoop out the seeds. Set a box grater over a large bowl and press the cut side of the tomato flesh against the large holes of the grater. Grate the tomato flesh into the bowl, leaving the skins behind.

• Heat the olive oil in a medium pot over low heat. Add the shallot, garlic, salt, and a few grinds of pepper and cook for 3 minutes, stirring often.

• Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, balsamic vinegar, cane sugar, oregano, red pepper flakes, and basil sprig. Cover and simmer over low heat for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove and discard the basil sprig and season to taste.

One of my earliest memories is slurping chilled Japanese zaru soba noodles made by my mother. I was little and shirtless, a kitchen towel draped around my neck, legs swinging off the chair, the steady hum of our window AC unit in the background. On a hot summer day, those cold buckwheat noodles were pure relief—dinner that could quench as much as it could satisfy.

These days, when the humidity sets in, I still reach for this cold noodle dish to cool down from the inside out. To remove every trace of starch, my mother would rinse the cooked soba under cold running water, scrubbing them like laundry. This step shocks the hot noodles, setting their bouncy texture and preventing clumping.

Next comes the mentsuyu—a savory noodle soup base that serves as a dipping sauce, typically made from dashi, mirin, soy sauce, and sake. To keep it weeknight-easy, I skip the sake (no one in my family seems to notice). Meanwhile, instant dashi powder delivers deep umami flavor, bypassing the need to make a homemade version with kombu and bonito flakes.

To serve, pile the cold soba noodles into a bowl and pour the mentsuyu into a separate, small bowl. Drop in a couple of ice cubes to chill and gently dilute the sauce—like a martini on the rocks, but saltier. I finish the noodles with sliced green onions, shredded nori, a dab of wasabi, and a mound of grated daikon radish. Don’t skip that last one—this bittersweet garnish is like fluffy snow, melting into the sauce.

You could arrange the zaru soba in picture-perfect compositions like my mother always did. But more often, I eat them right from the strainer with chopsticks—noodles flying, mentsuyu splashing—until the bowl is empty and I’m cool again.

What did we get up to while our kids’ time away overlapped for two weeks this summer? Did we go on vacation? Did we party every night? The truth is honestly embarrassing, so middle-aged coded, Deb of the early Smitten Kitchen years would rage and weep. [“You promised you wouldn’t get lame!”] I got… orthotics. And even worse than considering this newsworthy, I love them. I caught up on appointments. I challenged myself to finish books before they were overdue at the library and occasionally pulled it off. Sometimes I drank an entire 8 glasses of water and went to bed by 10:30pm. Sure, we went out. We had uninterrupted conversations. We drank Hugo spritzes. We saw dogs playing in a kiddie pool set up in front of an open fire hydrant and lamented that the kids were missing it, then reloaded their last locations and photos from the camp stream a million more times. We said things to each other like, “I miss the kids, but not parenting.” I watched this clip and it emotionally wrecked me. I’d sleep through my alarm in the morning and nobody was there to tell me I make weird faces in my sleep or that they’d promised they’d bring homemade treats to school that day. Friends, it was wild.

And the party didn’t end there. I’d make big dinner salads and bask, revel in being able to mix it all together, dressing too, not having to leave it on the side or create a whole salad bar of build-your-own bowl ingredients in case an unnamed picky child was going to reject the whole due to some of the parts. And in the most buried lede of all buried ledes, I need to tell you that this specific salad instantly became the star of our whole summer.

This salad could medal in the summer dinner salad Olympics, and as far as I’m concerned, it’s not even close. I’m pretty sure I’m going to be making it for the rest of my life, but I’m hoping you might start sooner, and even pull it off in a vacation house rental kitchen. It started in a more complex place; I’ve been making variations on what I call a Southwestern Cobb salad for years, a kinda taco bowl salad, with cute little rows of everything from tomatoes to black beans and peppers but every time I decide it was time to share it, I’d sigh and have to admit it was a bit of work.

Instead, I’ve distilled it to what I consider the best, most essential parts: chili-rubbed grilled chicken, charred sweet corn, avocado, and the best, most habit-forming, most put-it-on-everything, most I-can’t-stop-thinking-about-it cilantro lime dressing on earth. The whole thing is a symphony of greens and yellows (my favorite colors) and lest you think this feels a bit too wholesome and adult, I highly recommend a bowl of Fritos on the side and occasionally crumbled on top. A glass of something cold condensating on the table, your toes in the sand, and the general feeling that life is actually pretty grand right now isn’t guaranteed, but I want this for you, for us, and I hope this salad helps.

It’s here! The 2025 SK Classroom Wishlist Project, in which we try to get teachers what they need to set their classrooms up for success, has kicked off. If you cannot figure out where to start, let me help! I recommend picking a school in your area, or perhaps where you grew up, or searching the descriptions for classrooms that might focus on something particularly meaningful to you. Help out if you feel you’re able. There is no purchase too small to unquestionably make a teacher’s (and their students’) day. Plus, buying crayons, pencils, and books that help kids learn and succeed feels really good. [Project information. Direct link to spreadsheet.]

Meet the peach cobbler of my dreams! This irresistible dessert features warm, bubbling peaches with a golden cobbler topping that’s craggy at the edges and tender inside. Make this recipe from mid-to-late summer when fresh peaches are at their peak.

This simple peach cobbler recipe is sweet but not too sweet, so the glorious peach flavor shines above all else. The filling is sweetened with honey, and the topping is lightly sweetened with lemony sugar—both of which impart some lovely complementary flavors that make this cobbler taste extra special. The recipe is not complete without some vanilla extract, cinnamon and yogurt for a light, buttermilk-like tang.

The buttery topping is made of almond flour, which offers a tender crumb and light almond flavor that pairs perfectly with ripe peaches. I tried making this cobbler with regular all-purpose flour and much preferred it with almond flour. Thanks to the almond flour, this recipe is gluten-free, whether you need it to be or not!

How to Make the Best Peach Cobbler

You’ll find the full recipe below. Here’s a brief preview of the process and why it works so well:

1. Mix together the filling ingredients directly in your baking dish to avoid dirtying another dish. Bake the filling for about 20 minutes while you prepare the topping. With this two-step baking process, you’ll achieve a bubbly, condensed peach filling with a perfectly golden topping. If you try to bake it all together at once, the topping will turn too golden before the filling is done (I know because I tried).
2. The topping comes together in a few simple steps. You’ll want to combine the sugar and lemon zest in a small bowl, and use your fingers to rub the zest into the sugar (this takes about 20 seconds and maximizes the lemon flavor). We’ll grate cold butter into the flour for a biscuit-like texture. Lastly, we’ll whisk together an egg with some yogurt before stirring into the flour for even dispersion.
3. Dollop big spoonfuls of topping over the bubbling filling, and bake until the topping is lightly golden. Serve your cobbler with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream. Leftovers are fantastic the next day with Greek yogurt for breakfast!

Peach Tips

The only “hard” part about this recipe is finding great peaches. Wait to make it until you can find an abundance of ripe or nearly-ripe fresh peaches.

Peach selection and care

Look for medium-to-large peaches that are fragrant, unblemished and yield slightly to a gentle squeeze. Treat them gently so they don’t bruise.

If your peaches aren’t ripe yet, store them at room temperature until they are (you can speed their ripening by storing them in a paper bag, but give each peach some space so they don’t mold).

If your peaches are ripe already and you can’t bake the cobbler right away, store them in the refrigerator to keep them good for another day or two.

How to peel peaches

You don’t have to peel the peaches if you’re not bothered by some texture in your dessert (I didn’t mind it, but my husband did).

If you want to peel the peaches, lightly score an “x” about two inches wide at the base of each peach, gently dunk them into a big pot of boiling water for 30 seconds to 1 minute, then transfer them to an ice bath. Peel off the skin starting from the cuts on the bottom, and it will come off easily in strips.

How to cut your peaches

Slice your peaches into one-inch chunks instead of long strips. They offer perfect bites and don’t disappear to mush. This is a handy tip I picked up from Sally—thanks Sally!

More Peach Treats

Make the most of your ripe summer peaches with these sweet peachy treats:

This is my first cobbler recipe on the blog, and it certainly won’t be my last. I’ve long declared myself a crisp gal, but now that I’ve cracked the code to perfect cobblers, I can’t quit trying every fruity flavor. Why not?

Please let me know how your cobbler turns out in the comments! I love hearing from you.

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Aside from my air-fryer, the one piece of equipment that probably gets the most use in my kitchen these days is my skillet. I don’t have a dishwasher and I hate doing dishes, particularly on a weeknight, so one-skillet dinners are my jam. With so much fresh peak-season produce available, it’s shockingly easy to pull meals together in my hand-dandy skillet without ever feeling like I’m sacrificing anything for the sake of convenience.

It’s all about thoughtfully building flavor, and nowhere is this more evident than in the following 12 summertime skillet dinner recipes. They include juicy pan-fried pork chops, chicken breasts, seared steaks, spicy saucy shrimp, tender salmon and swordfish, and even a speedy spin on a Greek classic. Rest assured, you won’t be putting away your skillet anytime soon!