If I had to choose a favorite comfort food, I would nominate the meatball. Every cuisine seems to have a version of a meatball, whether it’s a truly meaty meatball packed with ground beef, pork or poultry; a pescatarian-friendly fish ball or patty; or a vegetarian version jumbled together with beans or legumes. No matter how you roll and cook them, meatballs are dependable dinner-winners. They are unfailingly forgiving, pleasing to all ages and adaptive to taste, diet and cuisine. Meatballs are also fun to eat in their myriad forms: skewered on sticks, smothered in sauce, swiped through a dip, or piled in a double-fisted sandwich.

This meatball recipe is a traditional favorite and perfect for a winter day. The key ingredient is a shower of grated Pecorino Romano cheese, which melts into the meatball, adding salty umami flavor while helping to bind the meat. A kick of crushed red pepper flakes provides a nice bite, which is easily adapted to your taste. This recipe makes a large batch of meatballs, which is hardly a problem. I often combine any leftover meatballs and marinara to make a chunky sauce, then freeze it to have on hand for a future pasta dish or lasagna. It’s a comfort food gift that keeps on giving.

Smothered Italian Meatballs Marinara

Active Time: 45 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour and 15 minutes, plus chilling time

Yield: Makes about 20 meatballs

Meatballs:

1 pound ground beef

1 pound ground pork

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

3 garlic cloves, minced

3/4 cup panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)

1 cup (packed) finely grated Pecorino Romano cheese, plus extra for garnish

1/4 cup finely chopped yellow onion

1/4 cup finely chopped Italian parsley, plus extra for garnish

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

Olive oil for pan-frying

Marinara sauce:

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 small yellow onion, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1 (28-ounce) can crushed Italian plum tomatoes

1 bay leaf

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Prepare the meatballs:

Combine the meatball ingredients in a large bowl. Using your hands, gently mix until the ingredients are evenly distributed. Shape the meat into 1 1/2-inch balls without overworking the meat. (Wet your hands with cold water from time to time to prevent sticking.) Place the meatballs on a platter and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Prepare the sauce:

Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and saute until softened, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes and saute until fragrant, about 1 minute more. Stir in the remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, until slightly thickened, about 20 minutes.

Cook the meatballs:

Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the meatballs in batches, without overcrowding, and brown on all sides, about 5 minutes, turning as needed. (The meatballs will not be cooked through at this point. They will continue to cook in the sauce.) Transfer to a plate and repeat with the remaining meatballs.

Add the sauce to the skillet and cook briefly over medium heat, stirring up any brown bits in the pan. Add the meatballs to the sauce and turn to coat. Cover and simmer over medium-low heat until the meatballs are thoroughly cooked through, about 30 minutes. Serve garnished with chopped parsley and grated cheese.

581-7500

CAPTIONS AND CREDITS

Caption 01: Photo by Lynda Balslev for TasteFood

When it comes to flavor, say yes to bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts. Chicken breasts often get a bad rap for their dryness and lack of flavor. Leaving the bones and skin on the breast helps to solve this problem. Not only do the bones add flavor to the meat while it cooks, but they help to distribute the heat, which prevents the meat from drying out. The skin also helps to keep the meat moist and tender by sealing in the juices; and, besides, who doesn’t like crispy skin?

This dish takes the ease of sheet pan cooking and upends it, literally, on top of a salad. Chicken breasts, fingerling potatoes and lemon wedges are jumbled together on one pan for a simple tray bake. Once roasted, the ingredients are arranged over a bed of escarole leaves, while the collected cooking juices from the chicken and lemon dress and slightly wilt the salad leaves for a casual and homey meal.

Warm Chicken and Fingerling Salad With Escarole

Active time: 20 minutes

Total time: 1 hour

Yield: Serves 4

Extra-virgin olive oil

1 garlic clove, minced

1/4 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

Kosher salt

4 large split bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts, each about 10 to 12 ounces

1 pound fingerling potatoes, thickly sliced crosswise, about 3/4-inch thick

Freshly ground black pepper

1 large untreated lemon, washed, cut into 6 wedges

1 large head escarole, leaves rinsed and dried

Heat the oven to 375 degrees.

Whisk 1/4 cup olive oil, the garlic, lemon zest and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a small bowl. Rub the oil mixture all over the chicken and between the skin and breast meat.

Place the potatoes in a bowl. Toss with 1 tablespoon olive oil and season with salt and black pepper.

Arrange the chicken skin side up on a rimmed sheet pan lined with parchment. Scatter the potatoes and lemon wedges around the chicken.

Transfer to the oven and roast until the chicken and potatoes are golden brown and cooked through (the internal temperature of the chicken should register 165 degrees), about 40 minutes.

Remove and let rest 5 to 10 minutes. Carve the chicken off the breast bones and thickly slice crosswise, about 1/2-inch thick.

While the chicken is resting, place the escarole in a bowl. Add 1 tablespoon oil, 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice, a pinch of salt and a few grinds of black pepper and toss to coat. Spread the leaves on a serving platter.

Arrange the chicken over the escarole. Scatter the potatoes around the chicken. Drizzle any pan juices over the chicken and potatoes. Squeeze the juice of 1 to 2 lemon wedges over the salad. Serve with the remaining wedges.

581-7500

CAPTIONS AND CREDITS

Caption 01: Photo by Lynda Balslev for TasteFood

It takes a bitter green to tackle a cold day. Bitter winter chicories are a salad’s response to the season. Chicories are leafy "greens" that include the likes of radicchio and Treviso, endive and escarole, frisee and puntarelle -- all of which are notably not-so-green, but rather streaked in purples and reds or cast in icy whites and yellow-tinged celadon. These are the frigid-weather soldiers that thrive in a leafy salad bowl, inviting equally hardy and robust compatriots to join the mix.

Crunchy nuts, puckery fruit, briny olives and sharp onions are excellent team players in a chicory salad. They face and complement the bitter greens, with each ingredient standing shoulder to shoulder, in balance and not overpowering the salad. Call it a mutual salad treaty.

This salad is bright and fruity, with bitter and sweet notes. It’s a lovely, uplifting wintery salad that is refreshing and satisfying. Orange is the key citrus, fully incorporated with its zest and segments scattered throughout the salad, which is coated in an orange-infused vinaigrette. Crispy, juicy fennel slices accompany the leaves, adding cool anise notes, while the chopped fronds provide a frizzy aromatic lift. Citrus-soaked shallots streak the salad, punctuated by briny green olives and toasty roasted almonds.

Normally, chicories can handle rich and sharp dressings, smacking with balsamic and thick with mustard. This dressing, however, is more discreet, like a practiced facilitator; it’s a dignified mix of sherry vinegar, orange juice and olive oil that purposely enhances the individual flavors and textural combination of the bowl ingredients. This is a mutually successful salad, allowing each ingredient to shine and bond together to combat any winter fatigue.

Chicory Salad With Fennel and Orange

Active time: 20 minutes

Total time: 35 to 40 minutes

Yield: Serves 4

1 medium shallot, thinly sliced, about 1/4 cup

4 tablespoons fresh orange juice, divided

1 tablespoon sherry vinegar

1/2 teaspoon finely grated orange zest

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 navel orange

1 small fennel bulb

1 small head radicchio, cored, leaves torn into bite-size pieces

1 small head frisee, leaves torn into bite-size pieces

1 to 2 endives, ends trimmed, leaves cut into bite-size pieces

8 to 10 pitted green olives, such as Castelvetrano, halved

1/4 cup raw almonds, toasted, coarsely chopped, divided

Combine the shallot and 2 tablespoons orange juice in a small bowl. Stir to coat. Let stand for 15 to 20 minutes.

In a separate small bowl, whisk the remaining 2 tablespoons orange juice with the vinegar, orange zest, salt and black pepper. Drizzle in the oil, whisking to emulsify.

Supreme the orange: With a sharp paring knife, cut away the skin and white pith. Using the tip of the knife, cut each segment away from the membrane; discard the membrane and place the segments in a bowl.

Remove the stalks from the fennel bulb. Halve the bulb lengthwise and thinly slice. Pull off and reserve the fennel fronds from the stalks.

Combine the radicchio, frisee and endives in a bowl. Add the shallots, orange segments, sliced fennel bulb, olives and half of the almonds and gently toss with half of the dressing, adding more dressing to your taste. Sprinkle the remaining almonds over the salad and garnish with the fennel fronds.

581-7500

CAPTIONS AND CREDITS

Caption 01: Photo by Lynda Balslev for TasteFood