By now, you’re in the throes of menu planning for that extra-special meal coming around the bend in a few days, Thanksgiving Day dinner. I’ve got some suggestions for a starter, a side, and a sweet, in case you’re searching for the same.

First up is a soup, a fine introduction to Thanksgiving dinner. It is light enough to refresh and substantial enough to rev up the palate.

The second is a vegetable dish, a nice alternative or addition to the traditional, even “requisite,” Brussels sprouts or green bean casserole.

And the third suggested menu item is, of course, a dessert.

Zuppa Pavese

This famous soup uses but a few ingredients to delicious effect. It comes from the Lombardy region of the North and one of its principal cities, Pavia. The legend goes that during the Battle of Pavia in 1525, the French king Francois I, held prisoner by the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, was fed a soup of stale bread over which was poured hot broth. The peasant girl who brought it to him enriched the soup with a raw egg. In its course from the kitchen to the cell, the steaming liquid cooked the egg to a soft poach. How regal.

My “Zuppa Pavese,” its modern Italian name, further accessorizes Francois’ soup by browning the bread in clarified butter and adding a snowdrift of grated aged cheese. If you are squeamish about runny egg yolk, you may simply poach the egg to your liking in the hot broth ahead of time. But the idea is to assemble the soup’s few ingredients in the bowl, then carefully pour the boiling broth over them all. This can be done at the table, a flourish that dinner guests might enjoy as a fillip to their Thanksgiving Day meal.

Zuppa Pavese recipe

Note: You may use regular butter but be wary of it burning in the first step. Makes 1, easily multiplied.

Ingredients

A slice of crusty, substantially crumbed bread (enough to cover the bottom of the serving bowl)
2 tablespoons clarified butter or ghee
1 and 1/2 cup broth of any kind, preferably homemade, salted to your liking
1 large raw egg
2-3 tablespoons freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (or other firm grating cheese such as Grana Padano)
Chopped flat-leaf parsley and freshly grated black pepper

Directions

Pour very hot or boiling water into a thick-walled soup bowl and set aside. Crack the egg into a small cup or ramekin; have the cheese and parsley at the ready. Over medium heat, fry the bread slice or slices in the butter or ghee until well browned on both sides. Heat the broth to a good simmer.

Drain and dry the serving bowl; place the bread in it, then slide the egg onto the bread; carefully pour the broth into the bowl. Top with the cheese and the parsley and as much grated pepper as you like.

Creamed Spinach Queen Mary 2

On a voyage back from Europe to the United States aboard the Queen Mary 2, I ordered this creamed spinach from its steak restaurant. It’s delicious; you could eat it for dessert, it’s so rich and filling. I think the dual secrets are squeezing the spinach of excess water after it has been blanched and also thickening the cream.

Creamed Spinach Queen Mary 2 recipe

Makes 4 portions. 

Ingredients

1 8-ounce bag baby spinach
1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
4 teaspoons butter
1/3 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Freshly grated nutmeg, to taste

Directions

In a large pot of rapidly boiling, lightly salted water, blanch the spinach until wilted, 20-30 seconds. Drain and, when cool enough to handle, squeeze of excess moisture. Set aside.

In a saucepan, reduce the cream and butter until the mixture is thickened but not broken. Add the cream and butter to the spinach and toss with tongs, adding the salt, grindings of black pepper, and gratings of nutmeg to taste.

Pumpkin Custards recipe

This is a custard of pumpkin and egg, something like pumpkin pie, but more egg-y and without the crust. A perfect Thanksgiving Day dessert. Makes 6 8-ounce or 3 16-ounce custards.

Ingredients

1 15-ounce can pumpkin purée

1 cup evaporated milk

2/3 cup brown sugar

2 large eggs plus 1 egg yolk

1 1/2 to 2 teaspoons spice mix, to taste (see note)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon kosher or fine sea salt

Unsalted butter, at room temperature, or cooking spray

Whipping cream, whipped with powdered sugar

Candied pecans (optional)

Directions

Arrange a rack in the middle of the oven and heat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, with a mixer or a stout whisk, mix the pumpkin, evaporated milk, brown sugar, eggs, spice mix, vanilla extract, and salt until uniformly smooth.

Butter (or use cooking spray) 6 8-ounce or 3 16-ounce ovenproof ramekins or small casseroles and evenly divide the custard batter among them. Place the cooking containers in a large high-sided roasting pan and pour very hot water into the pan to reach 1 inch up the sides of the pan.

Carefully transfer the roasting pan to the oven and bake, uncovered, until a knife or toothpick inserted into the center of one custard comes out clean. (About 60-70 minutes for the 6 ramekins or up to 85 minutes for the small casseroles.)

When done, transfer the custards to a rack to cool. Serve warm, at room temperature, or cool, with the whipped cream and optional candied pecans.

Note: Powdered “pumpkin spice” mixtures are available, or make a spice mix of your own. For both sweet as well as savory preparations, I often use Moroccan ras el hanout or the Emirati blend called “bzar” (among other spices, bzar mixes the powders of coriander, cumin, allspice, ginger, nutmeg, turmeric, cinnamon, black peppercorn, and clove, along with the occasional powdered dried chile).

Reach Bill St. John at [email protected]