Roasting: Our Favorite Way to Cook in Winter

Roasting is our go-to cooking method during the colder months. A hot oven, a generous pour of olive oil, and a sprinkling of salt is all you need to produce simple but spectacular dishes. But with a little bit of finesse, the technique can also yield sophisticated results, as in the following recipes:

Roasted Clams with Herb Jam and Chorizo Butter

Slices of crusty bread provide a bed for the clams in the roasting pan, and are perfect for sopping up the paprika-spiked chorizo butter.

Roasted Pineapple with Prosciutto

A welcome alternative to prosciutto-and-melon, this playful appetizer is made with a pineapple that's been roasted whole.

Smothered Pork Roast

This tender pork shoulder from chef Donald Link is slow-roasted under a blanket of sweet onions and served with rice, Cajun-style.

Roasted White Chocolate Mousse

Oven-roasted white chocolate has a delicious, caramel-like flavor that infuses this creamy mousse. A sprinkling of chocolate-feuilletine bark provides just the right amount of texture.

Anya Hoffman is a freelance writer and contributing editor at the James Beard Foundation. Find her on Twitter.