Pantry essentials and go-to meals
October 29, 2010 
6 Comments
There are a few rules that apply to my kitchen. One of them is, “Always have the basic ingredients for pasta puttanesca on hand: canned tomatoes, olive oil, anchovies, garlic, capers, dried chillis and dried pasta.” That way, if I look up from my desk at 5 o’clock and realize I haven’t planned anything for dinner, I can make a quick trip to the store for olives and fresh basil, and have dinner on the table in 20 minutes… just like I did last night. (My husband, who’s more comfortable in the pastry kitchen than the savoury one, has an equivalent rule: “Have the ingredients for brownies on hand at all times.”)
The resulting pasta sometimes changes, but is always satisfying. This time, I incorporated a technique I picked up from a couple of the pasta recipes in A16: Food + Wine. Instead of cooking the pasta all the way to al dente, cook it about a minute less, save a cup of the pasta water, then drain the pasta. Over medium heat, toss the sauce and pasta together, adding the reserved pasta water as needed to loosen the sauce, and finish cooking it for that last minute. As the pasta water cooks down, the starch it contains mixes with the sauce and coats the noodles, producing a nice, clingy texture. Having tried it with my usual puttanesca sauce, this technique is definitely part of my repertoire from now on.
What are your pantry essentials and go-to meals?
I love it … hooker’s pasta!
I always try to have some good cheese, good bread, and butter on hand: when in doubt, grilled-cheese-it-out …
I, too, live in a pasta-at-the-last-minute household.
But our go-to-dish is pasta alla Gricia which basically is diced and rendered pancetta, minced red onion and garlic, olive oil, butter, red pepper flakes and a little Parmesan. Sometimes I will use diced bacon or ham instead of the pancetta and Romano instead of the Parmesan if that’s all I have.
The combination seems to work with any pasta shape I throw at it, too.
i also combine the pasta and the sauce with a few tablespoons of the pasta water for the last minute of cooking. Learned that on Mario Batali’s show a few years back.
I love Puttanesca, but there are those in my household who freak out the second they discover they’re anchovy in anything!
I meant to say “there’s anchovy in anything!” Illiterate American that I am!
I have learned to keep de Cecco pasta on hand, and Greek oregano stalks (I don’t think I’d go out for basil at 5PM!)
And I often use two squirts of fish sauce (the label with a thumb’s up from a toddler)
instead of anchovies.
That’s a nice tip about saving pasta water, Matthew; I’ll try that next time.
Andrew: The name really is amusing, isn’t it? Bread and cheese is definitely a satisfying supper, and usually what we have on days when we’ve been wine touring in Niagara.
Skip: I really need to try that pasta alla Gricia! As for the anchovies, I’m sure you could omit them and still make a creditable puttanesca sauce.
James: I’m with you on the oregano. I usually put dried oregano in puttanesca along with the basil. I love anchovies, so I always have them on hand, but I bet fish sauce would be a good substitution.