I Love You!
Behind-the-scenes of Pamela Anderson's new cookbook
Happy Valentine’s Day, cutie pies! I’m a big fan of this holiday and I have zero shame in admitting my enduring love for chocolate hearts, not-so-secret crushes (hellooooo, Sam Fender!), bouquets, love letters, romantic dinner dates, all of it! Sign me up.
This year, I want to tell you a little bit about a cookbook called I Love You. I co-authored it with the one and only Pamela Anderson. The book was published just a few months ago and became an instant New York Times bestseller (!!) Pamela cooks with so much heart, skill, and generosity. Her food is comforting but contemporary, with touches of grace and always lots of fresh herbs and edible flowers. I’m so proud of this book we made together—plant-based recipes from the garden to nourish your family.
I adore Pamela and really admire her. It was an honor and a joy to work alongside her and make this cookbook. She has taught me a lot about companion planting, chic but useful trowels and other tools for digging, how to seek out inspiration, and keeping your heart open to the future always.
I thought it might be fun to share some behind-the-scenes of making this cookbook …
Pamela and I had our first meeting when I was nine months pregnant with Lewis (What a first impression, huh?). She instantly felt like a friend, like someone I had known all my life, like the cool aunt everyone wishes they had. She was thoughtful and kind, inspiring and encouraging me at every turn.
We texted nearly every day, about cookbook stuff but also about life stuff. We bonded over a shared love of tending to our gardens, drinking rosé with ice cubes, of baking sourdough bread, of poetry. She had a collection of family recipes that she had been cooking / tweaking / perfecting over the years. We added new recipes—some dishes she had only recently discovered, other traditional recipes that had been handed down by her parents and grandparents and then re-spun in her uniquely Pamela way.
We had a 10-day photo shoot in Los Angeles, led by the extraordinarily talented Ditte Isager. During peak summer, when Pamela’s garden was in full bloom and glory, Ditte also captured images of Pamela’s home and surroundings on Vancouver Island. The photographs in this book are stunning.
We worked diligently to create a cookbook that was honest, beautiful, and true. We poured our hearts into it. I hope you love it, and I hope you always know that I love you, too. Thank you for being part of our Recipe-of-the-Month community!
With much love,
x Maria
P.S. I will continue to donate 100% of proceeds from new Recipe of the Month subscriptions to support LA wildfire relief efforts. My mother-in-law Jocelyn is part of the Pasadena-Altadena Chapter of The Links. This month’s donation will be directed to the six chapter members who tragically lost their homes in the Eaton Fire.
Harvest Veggie Pot Pies
Pamela mentioned once that this might be her favorite recipe in the whole book. The sage gravy is pretty special, but you can always skip it if making that feels like too much.
Serves 10
Dough
3 cups (440 g) unbleached organic all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
½ teaspoon fine sea salt
1 1/4 cups plus 1 tablespoon (270 g) plant butter, frozen or chilled
2 teaspoons ground flaxseed
⅔ cup (160 ml) ice water
Filling
4 cups (560 g) diced butternut squash (from about 1 medium)
1 cup (100 g) fresh cranberries
1 shallot, minced
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
Fine sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon plant butter
½ small yellow onion, finely chopped
1 carrot, finely chopped
1 celery stalk, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 (15-ounce / 425 g) can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed well
3 sage leaves, thinly sliced into ribbons
¼ cup (60 ml) white wine
Gravy
2 tablespoons plant butter
1 tablespoon unbleached organic all-purpose flour
1 cup (240 ml) unsweetened plant milk
1 teaspoon soy sauce
3 sage leaves, thinly sliced into ribbons
Fine sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Make the dough: In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, and salt. Cut the plant butter into the flour mixture until it resembles breadcrumbs. Stir the flaxseed into the water, then add to the bowl. Use your hands to knead the mixture into a very soft and tender dough (it will firm up in the fridge, don’t worry). Divide it into 2 pieces, one that’s about one-third of the whole and the other that’s approximately two-thirds. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Make the filling: Place the squash, cranberries, and shallot on the prepared baking sheet. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and toss until evenly coated. Roast until the squash is golden brown, 30 to 40 minutes. Let cool. Meanwhile, heat the plant butter and the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Add the onion, carrot, and celery and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion softens, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring often, for 2 minutes. Stir in the beans and sage and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the carrot has softened and everything is golden, about 5 minutes. Pour in the wine and continue to cook for 1 minute. Remove from the heat and let cool.
Assemble the pot pies: When the dough has chilled, remove the larger piece from the fridge and roll it out on a floured work surface until it’s just under ¼ inch thick. Use a cookie cutter to cut out 10 (5-inch) circles (just gather and reroll the scraps as needed—if the dough becomes too soft, chill it in the freezer for a few minutes and try again). Place them in a muffin pan and mold to the shape of the cups—these are your bottom crusts. Roll out the smaller piece of dough to the same thickness, just under ¼ inch, and cut out 10 circles that are the right size to be the top crusts, usually about 3¼ inches in diameter (chill the dough again as needed). Stir together the roasted squash mixture and the cooked vegetables, then spoon that into the bottom crusts. Lay the top crusts over the filling and squeeze the edges to crimp them together, sealing the filling inside the pies. Use a fork to pierce holes in the center of each pie. Bake until golden, about 35 minutes.
Meanwhile, make the gravy: Combine the plant butter and flour in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring constantly, until the flour turns golden, about 3 minutes. Add the plant milk, soy sauce and sage, rubbing the sage between your fingers as you drop it into the pan. Bring to a simmer and cook until the gravy thickens, about 5 minutes. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Let the pot pies cool in the pan for about 5 minutes, then carefully remove them from the pan and serve with the hot gravy.
Excerpted from I LOVE YOU by Pamela Anderson with Maria Zizka. Copyright © 2024 by Anderson Media Company, LLC. Photographs by Ditte Isager. Used with permission of Voracious, an imprint of Little, Brown and Company. New York, NY. All rights reserved.