Semolina Flour

Although not my favorite pastry, makroud is very popular in North Africa, especially in Tunisia, which is a land of dates. The pastries are usually deep-fried in oil, then dipped in warm honey. I prefer the lighter baked version.

In Algeria they sometimes bake it on a griddle or skillet, but that didn’t work well for me.

There are many North African semolina breads. I love this crusty, crumbly one with a rich aniseed flavor.

Semolina cooked in cream becomes a thick, delicious porridge, with an almost puddinglike consistency, that can be enjoyed many ways. In Sardinia I have had it as an appetizer with honey drizzled on top, and as a dessert with a sauce of mirto, or myrtle. I loved both! And I’ve made it as a warm breakfast treat, too. Here I give you mazzafrissa as a dessert, with a lovely blueberry sauce (strawberries or cherries or other seasonal berries would be good, too). Scoop the warm cereal into serving bowls and top with the blueberry sauce, or serve the sauce on the side and let your guests help themselves.

This recipe makes a large batch of malloreddus, enough to serve eight. You don’t need to cook it all, because it freezes easily and keeps well. Malloreddus can be dressed simply with butter and grated cheese or almost any sauce you like. My favorite version, though, is the first one I ever had, in Porto Cervo many years ago: malloreddus with sausage and tomato sauce (recipe follows).

Rava dosas—savory, crisp-edged crêpes popular in South India—are typically made from semolina and rice flours. Stuff them with hearty vegetables cooked in a blend of spices, chile, garlic, and ginger.

Have you ever visited the marketplace of Jerusalem and noticed small wooden imprinted molds with handles? To be sure, the merchant is hard put to explain their significance. They are ma'amoul molds. Ma'amoul means "filled" in Arabic, and these molds make filled cookies eaten by Jews and Arabs throughout the Middle East, especially in Syria, Lebanon, and Egypt. A piece of short-pastry dough the size of a walnut is pressed into the crevices of the ma'amoul mold. A tablespoon of date or nut filling is inserted, and you close the pastry with your fingers. Holding the handle of the wooden mold, you slam it on the table, letting the enclosed dough fall out. On the top of the cookie is a lovely design. After baking and rolling in confectioners' sugar, the design stands out even more. Of course, the ma'amoul mold is not necessary to the preparation of these sweets, though it certainly adds to their beauty. The tines of a fork, tweezers with a serrated edge, or a tool of your own devising will do quite well. The following ma'amoul recipe came from Aleppo to the Syrian Jewish community on Ocean Parkway, Brooklyn. These cookies are served at Purim. A similar cookie, called karabij here (nataife in Syria), topped with marshmallow fluff, is also served at Purim. Arasibajweh—rolled cookies from the same dough and stuffed with dates—are served at the New Year or Hanukkah.

These "gnocchi" are more like baked polenta cutouts. For a pretty presentation, cut the gnocchi with a three-inch-square scalloped cookie cutter.

This treat is a holiday or wedding dessert, but delicious any time. It is a dense sponge cake soaked in syrup.

Flour and water—can it get any more basic? After a few minutes of kneading, the dough magically comes together into a smooth, supple ball. Fettuccine is the goal here, but Chun also likes to cut the pasta into free-form "rags" to serve with a wild-mushroom sauce.

For a nutrition boost, replace one of the eggs with 1/2 cup of pureed beans or vegetables. (That's two 2-ounce jars of baby food.)

Although this flour, semolina, and egg mixture begins as a stiff dough, it cooks into beautiful, velvety noodles that are as smooth as butter. A pasta machine makes this recipe easy and foolproof. Store-bought fettuccine simply can't compare to homemade.

Until quite recently, Italian restaurants in the U.S. served just one version of gnocchi: the potato kind. But gnocchi made from semolina (such as this one from the James Beard Award-nominated, industrial-chic Osteria in Philadelphia) is equally authentic.

These wine-infused, ring-shaped biscuits, called taralli, are on every Pugliese table during the antipasto course, but good ones can be hard to find in the U.S. This homemade version replicates their crisp, crumbly texture, with occasional hits of black pepper.

Far from being little more than crisp vehicles for the prosciutto , these have the flavor of a freshly baked olive-oil bread.

A flavorful, colorful vegetarian stew that's as beautiful as it is easy to make. Rice on the side makes the dish complete and soaks up all those great flavors.

Try this for breakfast or as a side dish.

This recipe was created by chef Dan Barber of Blue Hill restaurant in New York City and Blue Hill at Stone Barns in Pocantico Hills, New York. It's part of a special menu he created for Epicurious's Wine.Dine.Donate program. For this Summer dessert, Chef Barber suggests experimenting with any seasonal berry.