10 great things to cook in june
plus: one-pan ditalini and peas
Monday, June 2, 2025
Good morning!
I want to try this! [TikTok]
Why Food Is Everywhere in Fashion Advertising [Business of Fashion]
The End of the ‘Generic’ Grocery-Store Brand [Atlantic]
Despite the fact that it was a windy, cloudy 50-something degrees yesterday morning, my excitement that it’s finally June remains undeterred: It’s one of my favorite months. Because it’s strawberries and summer (usually before it’s too sticky hot) and the beginning of the best stuff coming off the farms and also my birthday. Do I make a Strawberry Summer Stack cake from Smitten Kitchen Keepers for it? Do I make my other favorite cake, an Opera Cake? (Still working on my perfect recipe for it.) Should I make both? So many decisions to make, yet no bad outcomes. Below, a handful of recipes that get me very excited about June cooking — exceptional grilled vegetables, the magic of zucchini butter, fridge pickles that vanish immediately, a stupendously easy cheesecake that people go wild (don’t miss the chocolate version of it, outlined in the recipe notes on the site), plus there’s a brand new recipe for a one-pan pasta I cannot stop making this spring. I hope you make it immediately. I hope you’re inspired, too.
Cheers,
Deb
I’ve written three cookbooks and I’m a tiny bit biased, but I think you’d love them all. Wondering what you might cook from Smitten Kitchen Keepers now that summer is finally here? I thought you’d never ask! Try the two-bean salad with basil vinaigrette, tomato and corn cobbler, zucchini and pesto lasagna, and steak and corn tacos. To finish, I recommend the big crumb pie bars and the strawberry summer stack cake. Were you looking for a list of all the recipes in each of my cookbooks? I’ve added these in a separate page and hope it makes it easier for you to find everything you want to cook.
“One of the winning elements of ‘The Recipe’ is that it’s not prescriptive — rather than settling on one universal ‘perfect’ recipe, the chefs explain their personal preferences, then give listeners the information they need to make their own adjustments. By breaking their recipes down ingredient-by-ingredient, digging into what each one is doing, they make the science of cooking approachable and fun.” — New York Times, 7 Podcasts to Inspire a New Hobby
“J. Kenji Lopez-Alt and Deb Perelman’s new podcast gets to not only the heart of how they make their recipes—but also the why behind each decision, too.”
The latest full episode of my podcast with J. Kenji Lopez-Alt, The Recipe with Kenji and Deb, is a Mailbag Episode! You can listen to it anywhere you get your podcasts, such as Apple, Spotify, and more.
one-pan ditalini and peas
New: Meet the pasta dish I can’t stop making. It’s cozy and quick, and because everything happens in one pot, there’s almost no mess to clean up. The sauce is silky but unheavy but tastes complex and fussed-over. The peas add perfectly cooked pops of sweetness and they’re an ideal forkful match for the ditalini. Come, make it an embarrassing amount of times with me.
blistered peas-in-the-pod with lemon and salt
Have you ever grilled fresh peas in their pod until blistered, finished them with some salt and lemon, and eaten them like edamame? If not, you're in for a treat, one you're going to want to make again and again as long as the season lasts. This is the easiest summer recipe since... a slice of watermelon on a plate. Good thing they go perfectly together.
easiest fridge dill pickles
These are our go-to fridge pickles, and they are ludicrously easy. Do you have salt? Do you have vinegar? You’re set. They’re not bad at all an hour later, excellent 6 to 8 hours later, and you can also enjoy them three weeks from now — though by then, we’ll be on our third batch.
chicken gyro salad
Grilled chicken, tzatziki, pitas, and a salad in a great big help-yourself platter is one of my favorite recipes on Smitten Kitchen, and exactly what I want every summer weekend meal to taste like.
summer ricotta with grilled vegetables
A love letter to homemade ricotta and my favorite way to serve it in the summer, that is with whatever vegetables and bread look good, grilled. It's great for potlucks, host gifts, and it's also the warm-weather light meal of my dreams. I hope you're inspired. [Video below!]
zucchini butter spaghetti
This is my new favorite simple summer pasta, just a heap of zucchini cooked until it has melted into a puddle of butter and garlic, laced with a little heat, then tossed with basil, parmesan, and spaghetti. And it's perfect: cozy, seasonal, and simple enough to be made anywhere. I hope it becomes your favorite, too.
smashed potatoes with sweet corn relish
I bet this layered and complex summer vegetable feast from Bryant Terry -- crispy smashed potatoes, slow-cooked onions, a spicy pea sauce, and an unforgettable corn relish -- will become an instant summer favorite for you, too. If you make nothing else, make the corn relish because you’re going to want to put it on everything from toasts to tacos to salads.
sticky sesame chicken wings
I was late to find out how easy wings are to roast or grill on short notice, and that picky kids go berserk over them, especially with this glossy, delicious sauce. I have definitely been making up for lost time since.
strawberry summer cake
It’s tiiiime! 🍓 A tiny bit of biscuit-like cake. A staggering pound of fresh strawberries on top. In the oven, the berries collapse into jammy puddles. Trust me, it's not strawberry season until we've made this cake.
easy basque cheesecake
Basque cheesecake -- you know, the kind with the caramelized top that contrasts gorgeously with the creamy interior -- that's even faster and easier to make, and perfectly sized to take everywhere you want to go this summer.
the red and black
You are a few muddled strawberries, a sparkly kicky black pepper simple syrup, some lime juice, and white tequila away from making one of my favorite cocktails of all time. I think you will love it, too.
summer ricotta with grilled vegetables
shop my favorites
Ever wonder where I get my cutting boards, paring knives, offset spatulas and more than you see when I cook? I've created a page on Smitten Kitchen with links to some of my favorite kitchen items, the ones I'm asked about the most — yes, including the the Smitten Kitchen x Staub Braiser (which is back in stock!). For each item, I've attempted to provide a range of shopping links so we're not just focusing on one giant retailer.
What’s the Smitten Kitchen x Staub Braiser? It’s an 11-inch, 4-quart braiser — essentially a lower profile enameled cast-iron Dutch oven that works as as well as a deep sauté pan as it does a soup pot, roasting pan, or even casserole dish that perfectly fits a pasta bake. Not a week has gone by in the decade I’ve had mine when I don’t use it at least three times. And we just got in a limited run of a stunning blue color for spring!
Your braiser purchase contains three new recipes (two savory, one sweet) by me that work perfectly in your new pot. If you’re looking for even more ideas, I created a category on the site to highlight some of my favorite dishes I make in mine.
See you next week!
