Pantry Pasta

When you need dinner in a hurry, the pantry is your best friend.

Time: 20 Minutes

Serving Size: 4-5 Servings

Allergy Notes: Dairy Free (Omit Cheese), Gluten Free, Nut Free, Soy Free

---

When most people think of a pantry pasta, I think they think of your classic American spaghetti- aka, spaghetti noodles topped with a Bolognese sauce consisting of ground meat and jarred tomato sauce. Now I'm not knocking jarred spaghetti sauce. I grew up eating spaghetti a few times a month- shout out to Prego with Mushrooms, my Mom's sauce of choice when I was a child. Sometimes, though, you want something different, or you don't have ground meat on hand, or you forgot to take said meat out of the freezer (we've all been there). It's times like this that I'm glad I always have a couple cans of tuna on hand. Canned tuna, in my opinion, is the unsung hero of the kitchen and is the star ingredient in my version of "pantry pasta." Now you may be asking, "Allison, what the hell is pantry pasta?" Well dear reader, pantry pasta is the pasta you make when you hardly have anything fresh in and you raid your pantry and fridge to make an amazing meal. While this is my specific go-to recipe for pantry pasta, this recipe is really a template for how you can make your very own pantry pasta. The only rules for pantry pasta are as follows:

1. Grab your pasta. It could be penne, spaghetti, rice noodles- hell even ramen noodles.

2. Get a protein. If it's shelf stable, even better because you can have it hanging around for a rainy day.

3. Make a basic sauce and make sure you've got it balanced to taste.

4. Profit because now you have a big bowl of pasta and you can't have a bad day when you have a big bowl of pasta.

Ingredients

• 1 lb Short Pasta

• 2 cans Solid White Albacore Tuna- I'm partial to the Trader Joe's tuna because you get actually big chunks of tuna and it's not super fishy or tinny.

• 1 can Italian Style Diced Tomatoes (undrained). (You can use plain diced tomatoes, but we're going for easy here.)

• 1 1/2 Thinly Sliced Shallots

• 2 Garlic Cloves, Minced

• 2 tbsp Capers

• 1/2 tbsp Chili Flakes

• Salt & Pepper

• Olive Oil

• Parmesan Cheese

• Optional: Flaky Salt and Lemon

---

Directions

1. Put a large pot of water on the stove to boil.

• SEASON THE PASTA WATER. Seasoning your pasta water is absolutely crucial. Not only does this prevent your pasta from sticking together (adding oil will only result in your sauce slipping right off your pasta), but it seasons your pasta. Plus adding pasta water to your sauce brings everything together- you wouldn't want to dump plain water into your deliciously flavorful sauce would you?

1. While the water comes to a boil, prep your other ingredients. Thinly slice the shallots. Mince the garlic. Roughly chop the capers. Pop open the can of tomatoes and cans of tuna (and watch out for cats that will start to wander your way at the smell of fish.)

2. Once the water comes to a boil, add your pasta. Cook according to package directions minus 2-3 minutes as we want to finish the pasta in the sauce.

3. When pasta is about 5 minutes out from being done, heat a large pan over medium heat. Once hot, swirl a bit of olive oil around the bottom of the pan.

4. Add the shallots and chili flakes. Cook for about a minute, stirring regularly.

5. Add the garlic and capers. Cook until the garlic becomes fragrant.

6. Add the can of tomatoes and stir everything together. Cook for another 5 minutes, breaking up the chunks of tomatoes with the back of a spoon.

7. When the pasta is just before al dente, reserve about 1/2 cup of pasta water and then drain the pasta before immediately adding it to the sauce. DO NOT rinse your pasta- rinsing it gets rid of all the delicious starch that you need to help the sauce cling to the pasta.

8. Mix the pasta into the sauce and cook for another minute, or until the pasta is done cooking. Add a bit of the reserved pasta water as needed to thin out the sauce/bring it together.

9. Finally, add the canned tuna, stirring it in gently so you don't break it up too much. We only want to cook this for about a minute- just enough to warm the tuna through.

10. Drizzle a bit of olive oil on top of the pasta and top with parmesan cheese (I don't care what anyone says, cheese and fish works). Serve. Optionally, top with flaky salt and a spritz of lemon.