The Best Recipes of 2023 🧑‍🍳 [Like You Know Whatever]

Who will be crowned America’s Next Top Plate of Food?

December 29, 2023

Hi friends!

How are you? I’m doing pretty well! My jet lag from our trip to Japan has mostly dissipated by now, and I am feeling really happy to be back in Los Angeles. Honestly, I was feeling a bit ambivalent about the city before we left, feeling run down by our shitty neighbors and my shitty year with the entertainment industry and my shitty odds of ever owning a home here. But then I came back, and was filled with a newfound gratitude for this ridiculous, dreamy city. I had to run an errand for a friend, and I met a guy with a gorgeous husky who told me a funny story about how the barbecue restaurant down the street gave them bones and extra food for the dog all the time and he was like hey, I would like some pulled pork, too, and that kind of neighborliness warmed my heart. Then, later, I was driving back to my apartment, and the way the clouds were sitting over the mountains took my breath away. It’s easy to sit in traffic on the highway and swear about how ugly the city is, but there are so, so many parts of it that are drop-dead gorgeous. Plus, so many of my friends live here, and I’m so excited to get to hang out with them again.

Today happens to be my husband’s birthday! Ross is my favorite person in this universe and probably a lot of the other ones, too. I have known him more than half my life (WOW!), and have been lucky enough to be his partner for 14 years. I love his sense of humor, his bluntness, his incredible kindness and compassion that he tries to hide with a brash, sarcastic exterior. I love how much he loves animals and how often he sends me cute animal videos (daily). I love his loyalty to the useless fucking New York Jets even though they’re terrible every year, because it means he is loyal to a fault even when no one is watching, a very good quality to have in a life partner. I love his big green eyes, the freckles on his nose, his weirdly perfect hands and feet*, and I’m going to stop before this starts getting really sickening. Today I will be driving him all the way across town to have lunch at his favorite pizza place, which is on the west side, so you know I really love him. He only reads this newsletter sporadically because he already knows everything that’s happening in my life, but Ross, in case you decided to read this one: happy birthday! I love you. Stop rolling your eyes.

* He could seriously be a hand/foot model. One time, years ago, we were on a weekend away in Palm Springs and one of our friends was on molly, and Ross had his bare feet up on the couch, and our friend became transfixed by how nice they were. His feet are so perfect, even people on drugs recognize it!

Since we’ve been back from vacation, I have gotten back into cooking, which has been really nice and grounding. The first few days back, I was so tired and out of it, I was afraid I would chop my finger off or set the apartment on fire if I had to do anything more complicated than microwaving an Amy’s. The food in Japan was obviously amazing, but it’s been really nice to eat some home cooked meals after only eating out for so long. 

Speaking of home cooked meals, I took a full inventory of everything I cooked for the first time in 2023 and decided to crown the very best of the best! Shall we get into it?

*Like You Know Whatever Presents: The Very Best RECIPES of 2023*

Here is my list of the best recipes that I made for the first time this year (you can see last year’s list here). Please note, these recipes were NOT published for the first time this year, I just found them and made them for the first time this year. They are ranked according to my very subjective ranking system that weighs multiple factors including deliciousness (most important), eatability, effort-to-result ratio, and the number of times I made them this year. Enjoy!

Honorable Mention: Turkey Pesto Meatballs and Orecchiette. Technically, I made this dish for the first time in 2022, but I made it so many times in 2023 that I thought it was worth mentioning… honorably. This dish is really easy to make because you roast the meatballs and veggies together on a sheet pan and then just throw everything together with the pasta at the end. My favorite memory of this meal was making it for my parents when I went to stay with them for a week in the spring after my dad had a stroke. They loved it! My dad had been grousing about having to eat healthier post-stroke and I was really proud that I could make him something with lean meat and lots of veggies that was still super flavorful (and I even cut the salt way down, too).

#5: Easy Green Olive Pasta. I originally made this recipe because my husband, the olive-hater, was out of town, and I wanted to make something special for myself that he wouldn’t enjoy. This spaghetti could not be simpler, but it’s irresistible. Salty and briny green Castelvetrano olives marry with butter and garlic and lemon and you think you’re going to need something more, like a bunch of parmesan cheese or maybe some herbs, but you don’t need anything, it’s simple perfection. The lemon juice and pasta water emulsify with the butter and oil to create this silky, beautiful sauce that coats the pasta perfectly and will have you getting seconds and maybe even thirds. The leftovers are good, too, even cold, right out of the Tupperware, standing next to the fridge. Not that I would know that from experience, of course.

#4: Chicken Parmigiana. I had previously made a lighter version of chicken parm using my air fryer, but had never attempted the real, olive-oil-fried thing until this year. There is something so comforting about this dish for me, which was a classic at casual Italian restaurants in the tri-state area, where my husband and I grew up. I first made it for him when he was having a tough week, and it felt like a real act of love. I did tweak a few things from Bobby Flay’s recipe, however; I used a jarred marinara sauce instead of making one from scratch, and fried the chicken in a shallow layer of olive oil that just coated the bottom of the pan, instead of the full cup of oil suggested. It was still crispy and gooey with melted cheese and just as incredible as you’d want it to be. I expect to come back to this recipe time and time again.

#3: Cantaloupe and Pancetta Cream Sauce Pasta. Now for something unique! I found this recipe during the summer, while researching if anyone had ever successfully combined pancetta with melon before. I found out that yes, someone had, and that someone was Emeril Lagasse, no less, so I figured I should probably give this fettuccine recipe a try. I know it sounds weird to use cantaloupe in a savory pasta sauce, but I’m telling you, this recipe is so rich and delicious, with salty-sweet flavors and a kick of umami from the pancetta, you will not want to stop eating it. One tip: depending how ripe your cantaloupe is or isn’t, you may need to employ a potato masher. This was the most delicious recipe I made this year, but it’s not #1 because it’s too rich, and it’s recommended to eat it in “appetizer portions.” And I just find the whole concept of a pasta appetizer to be ridiculously impractical.

#2: Gnocchi with Sausage, Zucchini, and Tomato. I would say that starting in the spring, I became much more interested in cooking with seasonal ingredients this year. This pasta recipe was a celebration of summer produce; I made it a million times over, and often threw in a chopped up eggplant, or sometimes some fresh mozzarella. I also never actually made it with gnocchi, because that sounded way too heavy for me, so I opted for penne. It’s very adaptable, but the few splashes of pasta water are essential to making a silky sauce, so don’t skip them. I’m surprised Martha Stewart allowed a recipe on her site that makes use of a jarred pesto, but I’m grateful, because this is quite quick and easy, in addition to being loaded with vegetables and oh, yeah, delicious.

#1: Fettuccine with White Ragu from Smitten Kitchen Keepers (page 202). This pasta recipe is NOT quite quick, although it is simple and easy. Ground pork is simmered with mirepoix, milk, broth, and a little white wine for 60 to 90 minutes, and the result is heavenly. I love the way this dish makes my house smell while it’s cooking, but more importantly, I love the way the pork breaks down into a light yet buttery and flavorful sauce. It’s kind of like a white bolognese. One thing I will say, though: don’t think, just double this recipe. As written, it only makes a half pound of pasta, and you will want more. Trust me. I have also made this recipe with a mixture of ground pork and beef, because that was all my grocery store had that day, and that was very good, too. I suspect it would work with all ground beef, too, but I haven’t tried it yet. It’s a beautiful dish, and one that I think would be impressive enough for a dinner party**, yet easy and foolproof enough that you wouldn’t have to stress at all. And that is why it is #1 this year.

** I actually made this pasta two nights before we left for Japan when a friend was coming over for dinner. I served it with an appetizer of blue cheese and fig jam crostinis and a broccoli and kale Caesar salad. An easy but elegant meal, if I do say so myself.

I know, I KNOW, okay?? Four out of my top five recipes for 2023 were pasta, and all were vaguely Italian. Look, it was not the easiest year for me and my family, so we needed comfort food. When I looked back at everything I cooked this year, that was definitely a major theme, along with cooking with more seasonal produce.

Here is the full list of every recipe I made for the first time in 2023, because I had to write it all out anyway in order to pick my favorites, so why not share it with you? The winning recipes are starred. As you can see, I cooked a LOT more in the summer and fall, which happened to coincide with when I was unemployed, which was really not a coincidence at all.

WINTER

SPRING

SUMMER

FALL

Biggest Cooking Fail: Burning the shit out of the winter squash pasta bake. We will rebuild it!

Biggest Cooking Triumph: Finally conquering short rib onion soup.

Biggest Cooking Surprise: I’m surprised that I baked as much as I did – and not only that, but I enjoyed it! Definitely something I want to explore more next year.

Biggest Cooking Pet Peeve: I HATE peeling fruits and vegetables. Hate it!

Biggest Cooking Joy: r/ididnthaveeggs made me laugh a lot this year.

Most Impressive New Technique Learned: I learned how to cook farro! I am still trying to master how to cook grains perfectly, so I’m pretty proud of this one.

Most Used Countertop Appliance (other than microwave): Slow cooker

Least Used Countertop Appliance: Air fryer. I didn’t use it once!

Weirdest Ingredient Used: Using cantaloupe in a savory sauce was definitely a little weird.

New Dish or Ingredient I Fell in Love With: I used caramelized onions in a lot of dishes this year. Time consuming but worth it!

Best Cookbook: Smitten Kitchen Keepers by Deb Perelman ($35). This was technically published in November of 2022, but I cooked a hell of a lot of recipes from it in 2023, so I’m counting it!

* * *

And there you have it! I hope you enjoyed this very subjective accounting of my year in cooking. Someone recently told me that the recipes are their favorite part of this newsletter, and I was happy to hear that, but a bit surprised, to be honest! (You mean it isn’t my scintillating wit?) In many ways, I feel like food is universal, but cooking can be so personal, too, you know what I mean? Anyway, if you’d care to share it, leave me a comment and let me know what your favorite thing you cooked this year was!

I’ll be back in your inboxes on Sunday, 12/31 with a big ol’ newsletter awarding the best of 2023 in pop culture and my personal life (“Drunkest Night” was a real wild card), as well as a recap of how I did on my resolutions, and my predictions for what will be in and out in 2024. It was so much fun to write, and I can’t wait to share it with you!

Don’t forget to like, comment, and share this newsletter if you’d like–you can use the buttons at the bottom or the top.

Until next time—happy cooking!

Love,LizXOXO

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