Cook This: 3 holiday recipes from Let’s Party, including a comforting, crowd-pleasing lasagna

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Jump to the recipes: ‘Don’t Tell Your Nonna About This Lasagna,’ crispy artichokes and marinated butter beans, and warm farro salad with dried fruit.

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Dan Pelosi knows how to throw a party. Growing up in an Italian American household in Connecticut, the cookbook author and content creator, who’s also known as “GrossyPelosi” (the handle of his popular Instagram account), was “thrown into the fire from Day 1.” His mom, Jackie, often tells him about how he went from sitting on the countertop as a baby to bossing her around the kitchen.

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“It was just my favourite place to be always, and that extended to my own kitchen, to the kitchens of everyone else in my family. And that meant parties and gatherings and Sunday dinner, and there was always enough room to invite one or two or 20 more people, last minute,” says Pelosi, laughing.

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His family never made an event out of having company over — it was their day-to-day. Now, splitting his time between Brooklyn and Upstate New York, Pelosi continues the tradition. “I don’t feel like I’m throwing a party, but people say to me, ‘That was a great party,’ or, ‘Thanks for having a party. You’re always having a party,’” he says. “There are many other ways to throw a party, but at the end of the day, we’re just intentionally gathering people around the table, feeding them, entertaining them.”

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In his second cookbook, Let’s Party, Pelosi features 16 celebratory menus informed by his personal life, from his favourite day of the year — the holiday cookie party (“as close to a potluck as I’ll get”) — to a girls night in. With guides ranging from the guest list to giving your house a party-ready “glow-up,” plenty of make-ahead recipes and menu timelines, Pelosi shares his biggest secret early on: hosting a gathering doesn’t have to be hard.

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“It should feel natural. And that’s kind of the goal of writing this book, to tell people why and how it feels natural to me, and how they can hopefully get to the same place where it just feels like every other day.”

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Let’s Party is one of several entertaining cookbooks, with a lowercase “e,” to come out this year. Hetty Lui McKinnon’s Linger, Samin Nosrat’s Good Things and Casey Elsass’s What Can I Bring? all focus on bringing people together in different ways.

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Pelosi attributes this renewed interest to emerging from the pandemic in an increasingly fractured world.

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“It’s hard to know where to start in terms of making it feel better. And my hope is that you can start with your people closest to you, around the table, and really build community,” he says. “As someone who has a bigger reach than a lot of other people, I also feel helpless. I’m sharing links. I’m trying to model my beliefs, and I’m doing all these things, but the impact can still feel intangible. One of the times I can really feel a tangible impact is when I’ve connected people at an event, at my house, formed relationships, formed support systems. So that, to me, feels like why this book and many other entertaining books are really happening right now.”

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In his previous 15-plus-year career working in design and marketing, Pelosi used creativity to solve problems. When he transitioned from being a creative director to working in food full-time in 2021, he applied the same approach. For Pelosi, it wasn’t enough to develop and share recipes he liked — they had to fill a need as well.

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Let’s Eat, Pelosi’s 2023 cookbook debut, was a result of the pandemic and focused on stocking the pantry and making the food that brought the most comfort. Later, as life returned to normal and he started throwing parties again, people began asking him how he did it so effortlessly, Pelosi recalls. “So, I was like, ‘OK, let’s talk about that.’ As much as I love to just talk about myself without being prompted, I do like to think that this book and everything I do is a response to a prompt.”

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Pelosi says he pours as much of his life experiences as possible into his cookbooks and work. And that the thing any recipe developer has to offer is themselves, their stories and their background. “Hopefully, people can connect with that part of us, and hopefully that’ll lead them to want to become part of our food and life. So, it’s very similar to inviting people to a party. I’m inviting everyone to my party.”

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DON’T TELL YOUR NONNA ABOUT THIS LASAGNA

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Serves: 8 to 10

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Nonstick cooking spray

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Béchamel:
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
4 cups whole milk
1 tbsp kosher salt
2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp ground nutmeg

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Lasagna:
1 (32-oz/907-g) container whole-milk ricotta cheese
2 cups freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 lb (454 g) Brussels sprouts, trimmed, halved and thinly sliced
2 large leeks, halved, cleaned and thinly sliced
1 bunch chard, stems removed and sliced into ribbons
4 garlic cloves, minced
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Red pepper flakes
2 (9-oz/255-g) boxes no-boil lasagna noodles

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Step 1

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Preheat the oven to 425F (220C). Coat a 9 x 13-inch (23 x 33-cm) baking dish with nonstick spray.

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Step 2

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Make the béchamel: In a large saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Whisk in the flour and cook, stirring, until golden and fragrant, about 4 minutes. Whisk in the milk, about 1 cup at a time, being sure each addition is fully incorporated before adding the next. Add the salt, black pepper and nutmeg, then cook, whisking often, until the béchamel thickens, about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat.

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Step 3

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Make the lasagna: In a medium bowl, stir together the ricotta and Parmesan.

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Step 4

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In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. When the oil is shimmering, add the Brussels sprouts, leeks, chard and garlic and season with salt, black pepper and pepper flakes. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are vibrant and beginning to wilt, about 6 minutes.

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Step 5

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Scoop a ladleful of béchamel into the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Build four layers of lasagna: Cover the béchamel with lasagna noodles, breaking them to fit as needed into an even layer. Ladle some béchamel on top. Scoop about one-third of the vegetables over the béchamel. Spoon a few dollops of the ricotta mixture on top of that. Repeat all these layers two more times, using up the vegetables and ricotta, but saving some béchamel. Add one final layer of noodles and gently press everything down. Pour 1/2 cup water over the lasagna, letting it seep into the pan. Spread the last of the béchamel over the noodles.

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Step 6

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Cover the baking dish with foil and set on a rimmed sheet pan. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for another 15 minutes, until the top is nicely browned and the inside is bubbling. Let the lasagna rest for 10 minutes. Dust the top with a little more Parmesan just before serving.

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Make ahead: The lasagna can be assembled in the baking dish, covered with foil and refrigerated up to 3 days; bring to room temperature before baking.

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CRISPY ARTICHOKES AND MARINATED BUTTER BEANS

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Serves: 6 to 8

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1/2 cup plus 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more as needed
1/4 cup roughly chopped fresh basil
1/4 cup roughly chopped fresh mint, plus more for serving
4 garlic cloves, grated
Kosher salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes, plus more for serving
1 (15.5-oz/398-mL) can butter beans, drained and rinsed
2 (14-oz/397-g) cans quartered artichoke hearts, drained
1 (17.6-oz/500-g) container plain full-fat Greek yogurt
Lemon wedges, for serving

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Step 1

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In a small bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup of the olive oil with the basil, mint, garlic, 1/2 teaspoon salt, black pepper and pepper flakes. Add the butter beans, stir to coat and set aside to marinate.

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Step 2

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In a large skillet, heat the remaining 1/3 cup olive oil over medium-high heat. Pat the artichokes completely dry with paper towels and season with salt. When the oil shimmers, add half the artichokes in an even layer. Cook until charred on the bottom, about 6 minutes, then flip. Cook until the other side is charred and the artichokes are crispy, another 6 minutes or so. Transfer to paper towels to drain and repeat with the remaining artichokes, adding more olive oil to the skillet as needed.

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Step 3

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On a serving platter, swoop and swirl the Greek yogurt across the surface. Scatter the artichokes on top, then spoon the butter beans and herb oil evenly over the yogurt. Serve with a sprinkle of mint leaves, a pinch of pepper flakes and lemon wedges for squeezing.

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Make ahead: The butter beans can marinate refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 24 hours.

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WARM FARRO SALAD WITH DRIED FRUIT

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Serves: 6 to 8

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2 cups farro, rinsed
4 cups vegetable broth
1 head lacinato kale, stems removed and leaves sliced into ribbons
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 cup roasted almonds, roughly chopped
1 cup dried apricots, chopped
1 cup prunes, chopped
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup dried currants
3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
3 tbsp Dijon mustard
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
8 oz (227 g) feta cheese

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Step 1

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In a large pot, stir together the farro and broth. Set over high heat to bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the liquid is mostly absorbed and the farro is tender, 15 to 20 minutes.

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Step 2

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Remove from the heat and add the kale along with a generous pinch each of salt and pepper. Stir in the kale to wilt, then add the almonds, apricots, prunes, cranberries, currants, olive oil, Dijon and vinegar. Stir until everything is well combined. Crumble the feta over the top and fold in. Taste for seasoning and add more salt and pepper as needed.

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Step 3

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Transfer the mixture to a large bowl and serve warm, or let cool completely, cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 3 days to serve chilled.

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Make ahead: The finished farro salad can be cooled, covered and refrigerated for up to 3 days.

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Recipes and images reprinted with permission from Let’s Party ©2025. Published by Union Square & Co., an imprint of Grand Central Publishing, a division of Hachette Book Group. Photography by Johnny Miller.

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