By Fourth of July week. I went to Oak Lawn for the holiday and came back to Pilsen on Friday evening. Ryan was on shift — twenty-four hours on Thursday and Friday, the firehouse on the South Side. He texted during the shift, briefly, when he could. Something about the day. Something about what he had made for dinner at the house (it was a roast, apparently someone else's turn, not his). Something at eleven PM that said "Back tomorrow, what are you doing Saturday?" I said farmers market. He said he would meet me there at nine.
He met me at the market at nine on Saturday and bought more tomatoes. This is becoming a pattern — the market, the tomatoes, the subsequent meal. I think the tomatoes are how he orients. I do this with soup. Everyone has their way of finding north.
Kristin called this week. She said she had heard from Matt that I was "seeing someone," which means Patty told Matt, who told Danielle, who told Kristin. The Kowalczyk family information network is very efficient. She asked his name. I said Ryan. She said "Ryan Kowalczyk?" I said yes. She laughed for a full minute. Then she said "Is he good?" I said he reads carefully and he makes chili and he left room when I told him about Jess. She said "Good. That's the right list." She has very high standards and she is satisfied by this list and that means something to me.
Made a big batch of summer tomato sauce this week — the cherry tomatoes from the market, slow-cooked in olive oil with garlic and basil until jammy and sweet. Over pasta. Ryan ate this with me on Saturday evening, the tomatoes from the market he bought going into the sauce in my kitchen. The tomatoes he carried across the market in a paper bag. Some things are both practical and not practical at all, simultaneously. The sauce is one of those things.
The sauce I made that Saturday was loose and jammy and deeply sweet from the heat — the kind of thing that wants to be layered into something, not just spooned over noodles. Skillet lasagna is what I kept coming back to as the right container for it: one pan, no fuss, the pasta absorbing everything the tomatoes gave off as they cooked down. It felt like the right vessel for a day that was also, quietly, more than it appeared to be on the surface.
Skillet Lasagna
Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 30 minutes | Total Time: 40 minutes | Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef or Italian sausage
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1 can (15 oz) crushed tomatoes
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- Salt and black pepper, to taste
- 8 lasagna noodles, broken into 2-inch pieces
- 2 cups water or low-sodium chicken broth
- 1 cup whole-milk ricotta
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella
- 1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, torn
- Parmesan, for finishing
Instructions
- Brown the meat. Heat olive oil in a large, deep skillet over medium-high heat. Add the ground beef or sausage and cook, breaking it up, until browned through, about 6–8 minutes. Drain excess fat if needed.
- Build the base. Add the garlic to the skillet and cook 1 minute until fragrant. Add the cherry tomatoes and let them blister and begin to collapse, stirring occasionally, about 4 minutes. Season with oregano, red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper.
- Add the tomatoes and noodles. Pour in the crushed tomatoes and water or broth. Stir to combine. Add the broken lasagna noodles, pressing them into the liquid so they are mostly submerged.
- Simmer, covered. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low. Cover and cook 18–20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes, until the noodles are tender and the sauce has thickened and turned jammy.
- Add the cheese. Dot the top of the skillet with spoonfuls of ricotta. Scatter the mozzarella evenly over the surface. Cover again and cook 3–4 minutes until the mozzarella is melted.
- Finish and serve. Remove from heat. Top with torn basil and a generous shower of Parmesan. Serve directly from the skillet.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 610 | Protein: 38g | Fat: 28g | Carbs: 52g | Fiber: 4g | Sodium: 740mg