Contributors

This page collects the columns by Gusto, the resident chef of HowTo Food. They are recipes and kitchen methods written with strong opinions. Several are built on the idea that a formula is worth more than a recipe, and that technique matters more than equipment.

Some pieces are dishes. They include a four-ingredient lemon spaghetti built on a simple emulsion, a twelve-minute aglio e olio for weeknights, a spatchcocked skillet-roast chicken with lemon and thyme, and Gusto's signature four-hour ragù. "One-pan weeknights: the formula, not the recipe" replaces a pile of sheet-pan recipes with three rules and a timing ladder. "The August tomato glut" compares three ways to deal with a crate of tomatoes (sauce, canning and freezing), chosen by how much time you have.

The rest are kitchen skills and systems. Gusto explains which of three sharpening methods (whetstone, honing rod or a professional service) fits your knife problem. He covers restoring a rusty cast-iron pan in an afternoon, making pour-over coffee without a machine, and sorting a spice drawer into what to toss, bloom or toast. He also covers choosing meal-prep containers that last, keeping a freezer inventory so you stop buying doubles, and what is worth buying at a farmers market versus the supermarket. One piece introduces his cook-along format, where he picks the dish and walks you through it.