Hi friends!
It’s a new year, and what comes with a new year? New Year’s Resolutions.
I know New Year’s Resolutions get a lot of hate. People rightfully criticize them for being short-sighted, short-lived and often unachievable. Hell, most statistics show that by the time you read this newsletter, most of us have scraped our NYRs all together. Yet despite this, I actually love New Year’s Resolutions. I love a fresh start. A clean slate. A new beginning.
That’s probably why I’ve set so many NYRs for myself this year. I recognize that this is one of the things experts say not to do.
Some of them are to be expected. Exercise more. Drink more water. Save more moolah.
Some I’m really excited about. Hosting more dinner parties. Thrifting more. Using Do Not Disturb.
But what I’m most jazzed for — and what I think will bring me the most joy this year — is restarting the Cooking With Maddie newsletter.
This newsletter was always a creative outlet for me to share my favorite recipes with the people I know and love. It was a safe space for me to be vulnerable. For me to talk about the good and bad days, the wins and failures, the highs and lows. And I miss it. I miss all of you.
Life got busy, and slowly but surely, the newsletter became something I never got around to.
Well, this year, I’m changing that. Life should never be too busy for the things that bring us joy, and man, do writing these newsletters bring me joy.
To ensure this is a NYR I actually keep, I’m going to set myself up for success by not promising you that this newsletter will be in your inbox every week because realistically, I just can’t make that happen. What I can promise is to send you more recipes this year. To send them when I can. When I make something I absolutely love.
And that’s what I’m restarting the newsletter with — something I absolute love. This is the recipe for a Lasagna-ish Pasta.
This dish has all the things you love about Lasagna — bubbly, warm mozz, creamy ricotta, a spicy tomato sauce — with about half the amount of time and effort required to make a real lasagna. Thank me later!
Here’s what you’ll need—
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 lb hot Italian sausage — if the sausage is in casings, remove from casing
6 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon fennel seeds, coarsely crushed — I like to use a mortar and pestle for this
Pinch of red pepper flakes
1 28-oz can whole peeled tomatoes with its juices
1 14-oz can crushed tomatoes
2 bay leaves
Salt & pepper
16 oz dried medium-sized pasta, like rigatoni, farfalle, or trottole
8 oz fresh mozzarella, torn into bite-size pieces
8 oz whole milk ricotta
⅓ cup grated Parmesan
¼ cup basil leaves, torn — I have been spoiling myself with Gothem Greens recently
Heat your oven to 425 degrees F.
Heat olive oil in a large dutch oven over medium heat. I mistakenly used a shallow dutch oven, and I didn’t have enough room for all my pasta. Go big here.
Add sausage to the dutch oven, and crumble using a wooden spoon. Cook the sausage until it starts to brown, about 7-10 minutes.
Stir in the garlic, oregano, crushed fennel seeds and red pepper flakes. Cook for another few minutes.
Stir in the whole tomatoes with their juices, using your spoon to break them into smaller pieces. This can get messy. You’ve been warned.
Add the crushed tomatoes, bay leaves, a few generous pinches of salt and several cracks of black pepper. Let simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Fill your empty 14-oz crushed tomato can with water and add to the pot. This ensures none of the tomato-goodness goes to waste. Add your pasta in as well. Stir to combine, and simmer for another 5 minutes.
Remove the pot from heat.
Fold in a third of the torn fresh mozzarella. Cue: fold in the cheese.
Top your pasta with the remaining mozzarella and dollops of ricotta. Shower everything with a healthy amount of grated Parm.
Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the pasta is tender and the cheese is lightly golden brown.
Remove from the oven and top with basil, more red pepper flakes and a glug of good olive oil. I’ve been loving the ‘drizzle’ Graza olive oil because, yes, I have been influenced.
Serve and enjoy!
You may have noticed that nowhere in this recipe do I call for you to fish out the bay leaves. That’s because I never, ever do this. It’s my belief that if you end up with a bay leaf in your bowl, you’ll have a year of good luck.
We served our Lasagna-ish Pasta with a simple arugula salad, but I wouldn’t be opposed to serving this with some garlic bread. Just sayin’
And if after reading this recipe you’re thinking to yourself — Maddie, I just want a real ass lasagna. Well, by all means. Here’s my lasagna recipe.
It’s been a long time since I’ve sent a newsletter, and because of that, I simply can not rattle off all the things that’ve been giving me life in the last year. These newsletters do unfortunately have a word count. So here are a few small things that have been giving me life in just the last few weeks.
Every time I step into my office, I smile. The plants, the books, the photos of my friends and family, and all the crap I hold onto. I can’t think of a better place to sit for 8 hours every day. But I’ll say this— the 8 hours sure do feel a lot longer when the sun sets as early as it does, so when I need a pick-me-up throughout day, I’ve been using the OUAI hand lotion. A pump here and a pump there gives me the serotonin rush I need to get through the day.
I’ve also been obsessing over the amber Zum laundry detergent that my sweet friend Megh’s mother gifted me. I’ve been using it exclusively on our bedding because I read somewhere that if your bedding has a different scent than everything else in your house, you can trick your brain into knowing it’s time for bed? I can’t say that’s not not true.
Other things — I can’t stop crocheting. There’s yarn all over the house. My fingers are in pain, but I just can’t stop. I’ve made hats, book covers, AirPod cases, laptop sleeves and everyone got a granny square balaclava for Christmas whether they liked it or not. I’ve been on a real audiobook kick. Thanks Spotify. Buying herbs in bulk at H Mart. My amaryllis flower finally bloomed! The Eighteen sandwich from Leven Deli. Sensory deprivation at Float STL. Last, but not least, my boyfriend Frank surprised me with a trip to the Botanical Gardens to see the orchid exhibit. Nothing says winter will end, I swear, like blooming orchids.
Wish I was with you,
Maddie
Yay! She’s back! I’ve missed your news
So exciting to see “Cooking with Maddie” has returned. We will certainly be making this soon. Take care, stay safe, and keep cooking!