121 rustic recipes

Rustic Italian aubergine and anchovy pasta with a slow-baked tomato sauce thickened with mashed anchovies. A bold, salty, deeply savory supper that's dead simple to make.

Turn leftover boiled beef into a rustic Italian main dish baked under garlicky tomatoes, oregano, and olive oil. Ready in 45 minutes with just 8 simple ingredients.

Provençal anchovy paste pounded with garlic and olive oil, spread thick on bread, then baked until golden for rustic French toast that's salty, garlicky, and completely addictive.

Traditional Irish baked herring stuffed with lemony breadcrumbs and braised in hard cider. A rustic, hearty supper that brings the taste of coastal Ireland to your table.

Rustic whole wheat loaf packed with sunflower, sesame, and pumpkin seeds, sweetened with a touch of golden syrup. Crusty outside, nutty and dense inside. Proper homemade bread.

Roasted pork shoulder on sauerkraut with juniper berries, grated apples, white wine, and bay leaves. A hearty German-style pork and kraut dish with deep, rustic flavor.

Italian-style chicken breast saute with mushrooms, green peppers, garlic, sage, and rosemary in a white wine pan sauce. One-pan rustic dinner that feeds a crowd.

Baked chicken with broccoli topped with a bold walnut pesto made from anchovies, basil, parmesan, and garlic. A rustic one-casserole dinner that reimagines classic Italian pesto.

Roasted Cornish hens brushed with olive oil, parsley, and thyme, served with pan-gravy mushrooms, glazed carrots, and Brussels sprouts. A rustic Sunday dinner plate, scaled small.

Pan-fried polenta wedges with briny olives and a slow-simmered garlic tomato sauce. A rustic Italian dish that turns simple cornmeal into a crisp golden base for a fragrant herbed sauce.

Greek stifado: slow-braised beef chuck in red wine, tomatoes, onions, thyme, rosemary, and cumin, finished with crumbled feta. A rustic Mediterranean stew with deep, herb-saturated flavor.

Milzsuppe is a traditional Bavarian and Austrian spleen soup built on butter-browned onions, scraped spleen, and a whisper of roux. Rustic peasant cookery with deep, iron-rich flavor.

Mexican-style rabbit braised in a chili-infused, peanut-thickened sauce warmed with cumin, clove, and nutmeg. A rustic, mole-adjacent dish where peanut butter lends body and depth. Works with chicken too.

Polenta pasticciata layers firm cooled polenta squares with porcini-spiked beef ragù, plum tomatoes, and grated pecorino into a rustic Northern Italian bake. Lasagne, but with cornmeal instead of pasta.

A rustic Sicilian appetizer of pan-fried eggplant simmered in a sweet-and-sour sauce with olives, capers, pine nuts, and tomato. Served at room temperature for bold Mediterranean flavor.

Italian-style shrimp and scallop skewers coated in garlicky olive oil, parsley, and breadcrumbs, then broiled until golden and crispy. A rustic seafood showpiece served with lemon wedges.