Cheese

This thick and creamy soup gains a rich flavor when the potatoes are roasted in a bit of bacon fat.

Cooking the onions for this hearty soup requires less tending in the convection oven than in a saucepan and the aroma is just as wonderful!

Baked in the convection oven, this soufflé rises high and is almost noncollapsible. However, you’d still better have the table set and be ready to eat when the soufflé is done because it won’t stay puffed forever!

Serve small wedges as an appetizer or large wedges for a vegetarian main dish.

The quiche originated in Alsace-Lorraine, in northeastern France. It’s a pastry shell filled with a savory custard of eggs, cream, and other ingredients. Quiche Lorraine always includes crisp bacon with optional cheese. Of course, there are many ways to vary this basic recipe and a few ideas follow. In the convection oven, the temperature is reduced by 25 to 50 degrees and the baking time is reduced as well.

This simple tart, a little like a quiche, is perfect as a first course or snack. Add a salad to the menu and it can star as the main dish.

Onions, sliced and cooked in the convection oven, literally melt into sweetness. Here the melted onions are baked in a rich custard, flavored with Parmesan, and cradled in a flaky pastry. This is terrific for a special occasion.

Kids love “mac and cheese.” When I make it from scratch, I know what’s in it—all healthy ingredients! Here’s how to do it, saving time and energy in the convection oven.

For pizza lovers, here are eight varieties to choose from. The basic dough makes two pizzas. The dough is easy to mix in the food processor.

This focaccia adds onions, olives, and dried tomatoes to the top. Cut into bite-sized pieces, it’s a great appetizer. The dough mixes most easily in a food processor.

You can use any dried lasagna noodles in this easy no-boil method, just be sure that the noodles themselves are completely covered with the filling and sauce.

This delicious flat bread is great cut into 1- to 2-inch squares and served as an appetizer or cut into larger squares to accompany soups and salads. You can create tasty variations by trying different cheese combinations, such as Cheddar, Swiss, or Monterey Jack, or by changing the herbs to oregano and parsley, or chives and shallots.

The convection oven makes easy work of this recipe. While you roast the potatoes, cook the bacon in the convection oven. This leaves your cooktop splatter free.

Oven-drying concentrates the flavor and aroma of tomatoes, something I like to do especially in the winter, when fresh tomatoes are not always flavorful. In the convection oven, the tomatoes dry in about half the time of a conventional oven. You can store the dried tomatoes in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Otherwise, wrap them well and freeze them for later use. I love them served this way: Simply topped with fresh mozzarella and seasonings on a crisp crouton. They’re great in salads, or as an accompaniment for oven-grilled chicken breasts.

These little cubes of chicken resemble chicken nuggets and are perfect when you’re trying to think of something to feed children. Eliminate the hot spices if the kids object (but one of my granddaughters announced, “I like hot!”).

This is a great quick snack or appetizer. To make it a bit heartier, add more toppings like chopped green onions, diced peppers, bits of sausage, or additional cheese.

Serve these toasts hot out of the oven. They’re a real crowd-pleaser and the recipe is easy to multiply to serve lots of people. If you make three panfuls at a time, position the oven racks so that they are evenly spaced and bake all three at once.

This tasty frittata has a particularly pleasing texture, light and luscious like a soufflé on the inside, with lots of crust outside, especially when baked in a heavy cast-iron skillet. It’s an excellent brunch or lunch dish, served either warm or, if you want to make it ahead, at room temperature. And this lends itself to many tasty variations: simply fold into the rice mixture a cup or more of sautéed onions and peppers, cooked crumbled sausage, or cubes of Taleggio, before incorporating the whipped egg whites.