How chef Samin Nosrat keeps up a casual weekly dinner with friends

"For the past five years, chef and author Samin Nosrat has done something that, for many, can feel impossible. She's kept up a weekly dinner with friends. At first, she thought people would be too busy for it. But over time, the dinner held every Monday night for about 10 guests at a friend's house has become "a grounding, meaningful practice in all of our lives," she says. "At one point, a friend told me that Monday dinner was her church.""

"Published in September, the book includes big-batch recipes for group meals, like creamy spinach lasagna, slow-cooked salmon and Pane Criminale, a garlic butter-infused loaf of bread (click here to jump to the recipe). The key to maintaining these dinners is to ritualize it, she says. These gatherings are less about the menu and more about "eating and cooking together, whether that's with your family, your chosen family or both.""

""That's one less thing we have to coordinate and check in about," Nosrat says. "That also means everyone is familiar with the kitchen, the space and the pantry." Keep the menu casual Think of big-batch dishes you can make in advance that don't involve a lot of last-minute tending, like "things that are braised, stewed or able to be served at room temperature," Nosrat says. For her, that might mean a bolognese sauce or roasted vegetables with a creamy dressing."

Samin Nosrat has kept a weekly Monday dinner with about 10 guests for five years, creating a grounding, meaningful practice. The practice relies on ritual: choosing the same day, time and location to eliminate coordination and to familiarize guests with the kitchen and pantry. A collection includes 125 favorite dishes and big-batch group recipes such as creamy spinach lasagna, slow-cooked salmon and Pane Criminale. Practical tips prioritize casual menus, advance-prepared big-batch dishes that require minimal tending (braised, stewed, or room-temperature items), and avoiding overly complicated recipes to keep the habit sustainable.

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