Pasta

I love this one too. https://www.skinnytaste.com/cajun-chicken-pasta-on-lighter-side/

Why do you think many people don’t eat carbs? Dry Pasta keeps for a very long time so I don’t know that you need to be in any big hurry to use it.

I usually look on Pinterest for ideas and I do like Skinny Taste as recommended above.

Are you looking for main dish/one pot meal type recipes? Red sauce? Creamy sauce? Cheesy? Any particular proteins or other ingredients you want to include?

Pasta is useful for throwing together a store cupboard meal when you haven't managed to hit the shops. Pair any of these with a green salad. These pasta sauces are all made in the 10 minutes while the pasta is boiling, and using ingredients that Italians would have on hand in the store cupboard. The Locatelli article does aglio olio, carbonara, tuna with tomato and olives, and cacio e pepe. I would also add puttanesca which is pretty similar to the tuna/tomato/olive recipe that Locatelli gives.

I wouldn't be too precious about any of these super quick and easy meals. For carbonara, regular bacon will do instead of hunting down guanciale (salt cured pork cheek). Similarly just keep some pitted olives on hand for the tuna and tomato recipe instead of pitting olives yourself.

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/aug/20/the-only-4-spaghetti-recipes-you-will-ever-need-giorgio-locatelli
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2014/sep/25/how-to-cook-perfect-pasta-puttanesca-recipe

LyndaBSS wrote: »

@acpgee

What is a store cupboard meal?

A store cupboard meal is something you can still rustle up, even when the fridge is empty. Most Italians (and myself) would have ingredients like parmesan cheese, olives, capers, onions, pepper, garlic, tinned tomatoes, tinned tuna, tinned anchovy, chillli flakes, olive oil, bacon and eggs in the pantry. I think that is the full range of ingredients required for making the sauces for cacio e pepe, aglio olio, puttanesca, carbonara as well as Locatelli's tuna/tomato/olive sauce. That and some pasta.

LyndaBSS wrote: »

@acpgee

What is a store cupboard meal?

@acpgee is giving good advice. I'd say "pantry" instead of "store cupboard" but the idea is the same. It's the stuff you want to keep on hand all year long. I consider some items from the produce, dairy, and meat departments to be "pantry" items even though they are kept in the fridge instead of a cupboard. For Instance, I think produce pantry items should include the ingredients of the mirepoix, sofrito, or trinity that you use most. For me, it is onions, carrots, celery, bell pepers, chili peppers, and garlic.

Since pasta is part of this conversation, the pasta items in my panty are all whole grain. Whole grain pasta is tricky because I love some brands, tolerate others, and detest a few. It takes a while to find the kind you like.