Freedom from Red Sauce

• recipe

  Pasta with Sauteed Mushrooms and Thyme

  Pasta with mushrooms can be watery and tasteless. Thirty pounds of mushrooms later, we discovered a simple technique to produce a woodsy, creamy sauce quickly.

• recipe

  Orecchiette with Broccoli Rabe and Sausage

  More pungent and bitter than broccoli, broccoli rabe (also called rapini) provides an excellent balance for the rich sausage.

• equipment

  Herb Choppers

  Can gimmicky models cut it?

• taste test

  Supermarket Extra-Virgin Olive Oils

  You get what you pay for with most supermarket extra-virgin olive oils: bland, bottom-of-the-barrel, and boring. Is there a brand worth buying?