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This is the perfect tart to celebrate summer. It showcases the ripest heirloom tomatoes, fresh corn, and basil. You can use any tomatoes, but I like to use a mixture of colors. The corn kernels add crunch and a burst of flavor. The tang of the goat cheese pulls all the tastes together.

A pissaladière is a crisp, flaky pizza-like pastry popular in the south of France. This version is made with prepared puff pastry, then topped with the traditional olives and anchovies. Here it is made as one rectangular tart, though you can make individual ones as well. The onions are roasted in the oven until soft, jammy, and a bit smoky. If you don’t have oven-roasted tomatoes in your pantry, sun-dried tomatoes packed in olive oil can be substituted. My favorite element is the grated dried goat cheese at the end.

This is a simple yet elegant tart from Fran Gage. The roasted garlic custard makes a wonderful savory flan on its own, and the crust is perfect for other savory tarts (the recipe makes enough dough for 2 tarts; freeze the extra dough to use later). For even more complex flavor, roast the mushrooms as well as the garlic in the wood-fired oven.

French onion soup topped with nutty Gruyère cheese is one of the best comfort foods ever! When cooked over a live fire, the deep, rich smoky flavors and aromas are intoxicating. Sweet onion varieties such as Vidalia, Maui, or red Bermuda make the best soup. Of course, if only basic yellow onions are available, by all means use those. A pinch of sugar added during the cooking of yellow onions will bring out their natural sweetness.

This soup has a wonderful bright, fresh flavor from the greens and lots of herbs. My favorite way of cooking this soup is in a pot made of micaceous clay (see note). The clay adds flavor and the added earthiness of the favas makes it heavenly! This version is pureed, though you can leave it chunky if you wish. You can substitute fresh peas for the favas and fresh spinach for the escarole. Make sure you use a really flavorful extra-virgin olive oil for finishing.

Tart crusts can be made from other ingredients, including cooked spaghetti, polenta, and rice, or in this case, thinly sliced potatoes. The goal is to make a crisp, shallow vessel that will contain the filling without leaking. This is especially important when a custard filling is used. The baby artichokes in this recipe can be replaced by thinly sliced artichoke hearts.

Cassoulet is a traditional French dish of white beans and various meats, cooked slowly for the flavors to blend. This fragrant vegetarian version uses Indian spices and lentils rather than white beans. It’s wonderful as a main course or as a side dish with roasted chicken or fish.

Risotto is typically made on the stove top with a fair amount of stirring to release the starch from the grains of rice. It can also be baked in a casserole, though it will be less creamy because less starch is released. Cooking it in a wood-fired oven adds a smoky flavor. The asparagus and Swiss chard are perfect additions in spring. You can use any of your favorite seasonal greens in their place. Diced butternut squash or yellow beets are terrific here too, as are the traditional mushrooms.

In the south of France, beautiful large ripe tomatoes are often stuffed with herbs and bread crumbs, then served with grilled fish. Here, the tomatoes are wood-roasted for added flavor. You can play with other herbs such as dill or marjoram in the stuffing.

As soon as it’s artichoke season, I often make this dish when I’m firing the oven for making bread or pizza. It’s so very simple in both ingredients and technique, you’ll want to make it often. After you’ve baked your bread, throw this dish in the oven for a quick accompaniment to your meal. The heat from the oven slightly caramelizes the outer leaves of the artichokes and the skins of the lemons. You’ll be amazed at how flavorful and sweet artichokes taste cooked this way! The lemons and juices are used to make a dipping sauce.

This is not your basic antipasti. Serving a beautiful platter of wood-roasted seasonal vegetables, cured meats, hand-crafted cheeses, home-cured olives, and smoke-kissed crusty bread to family and friends as a prelude to dinner is an artful way to honor guests. This is just what chef Chris Bianco does at his restaurant, Pizzeria Bianco, in Phoenix, Arizona. Chris’s wood-fired pizzas are now legendary, but his wood-roasted antipasti platter sings. I hope you will enjoy my version, and create many versions of your own.

What could be more fun than popping open oysters on the grill or on the coals of a fire? Large oysters work best for the grill. Or you can nestle them in a skillet lined with rock salt. In either case, the cooking skill needed to make mouth-watering oysters is minimal. The basic rule: Don’t overcook the oysters! here, they’re served with an Indian-spiced barbecue sauce that’s cooked over the fire for added flavor.

This recipe is simple but packed with flavor. You can substitute other shellfish, such as mussels or shrimp or cracked crab, or a combination of all of these. This version gives a nod to Provence, using herbes de Provence and Pernod. The rich liquor created by the combination of the shellfish, garlic, wine, and herbs is the best part! Bake up some No-Knead Dutch Oven Bread (page 85) to accompany this delightful dish.

This recipe from author and cooking teacher Linda Carucci is a family favorite that she and I adapted for the wood-fired environment. The smokiness imparted is a great match with the ham. Use the ham bone to make a batch of this thick, satisfying soup to eat for supper during the week.

This chowder is easy to make and requires only one pot! The salmon comes out tender and is a good match with the dill and potatoes. For a smokier flavor, roast the ears of corn directly over the fire before removing the kernels. If you don’t have fresh salmon, frozen will work fine, or you can use smoked salmon. If using smoked salmon, cut back on the salt for seasoning.

This is a dish you can make with little preparation or cooking time. Anyone can be a successful shrimp griller. The key things to remember are: (1) brine the shrimp to assure moistness; (2) grill them with the shells on; (3) don’t overcook them. The brightly flavored vinaigrette can be served with any other grilled fish or even chicken.

Lamb, pomegranate, and apricots is a classic Mediterranean combination. Pomegranate molasses, which is sometimes called pomegranate concentrate, is a pantry staple in parts of the Mediterranean. It serves as a meat tenderizer as well as a flavor enhancer. Look for it in specialty foods stores, or online (see Resources). Serve this dish with a rice pilaf or couscous. Note: You will need 16 wooden skewers for this recipe.

Coca is the Spanish version of pizza. Here, it is spread with my Smoky Romesco Sauce, a basic in the Spanish pantry. When topped with green onions, roasted potatoes, and sliced hard-cooked eggs, it is an edible canvas of the sunny colors and flavors of this part of the Mediterranean.

This multilayered flatbread is made by spreading the dough with the filling, then folding, rolling, and cooking quickly on both sides on a hot cast-iron griddle or stone. I love to serve them as an appetizer and often add a bit of salty crumbled cheese such as sheep’s milk feta to the filling.

Focaccia is one of the easiest flatbreads to make: No shaping is needed because the dough is stretched and spread out in the sheet pan. This recipe uses a very wet dough, resulting in a moist flatbread about 3/4 inch thick. You can substitute shavings of Parmesan for the ricotta salata cheese, if you like. Focaccia is best eaten the day it is baked.