Hello and happy friday, friends!

Today’s topic: Pantry Meals, and specifically - pantry pasta!

Pantry Meals are a crucial part of any cook’s arsenal. I define pantry meals as a quick and easy meal based on main ingredients from the pantry, which means one of the key benefits of having these types of go-to meals in your back pocket is that you know you can make them anytime, even when there’s no fresh food to eat.

Now, in an intuitive cooking lifestyle, pantry meals look more like flexible pantry FORMATS. Let me explain…

One of my secrets to intuitive cooking is thinking in FORMATS instead of just RECIPES. A format is the word I use to describe a category of a dish. Within a category there are infinite different recipes/versions you could make, but they all follow the same basic “format,” which may include specific cooking techniques, toppings, certain types of ingredients, spices, etc.

When you understand the basic principles of any FORMAT, you can make your own creations intuitively from whatever you have, without recipes! And the MAGIC of thinking in formats REALLY happens when you allow the loose structure of the format to inspire you to create simple, delicious, and unexpected taste sensations from whatever you have on hand.

Some examples of “formats” include: tacos, pasta, salads, etc. There are infinite variations on tacos, but they all follow the same “format” = shell/tortilla, filling, toppings. To take the format a step deeper, we might ask, "What makes a taco awesome?!" Opinions may vary, but let me suggest that one of the best characteristics of a taco is its inherent contrasting flavors and textures, specifically: a neutral shell tortilla (maybe soft or perhaps crunchy) + a hearty, warm, well-spiced filling + a cool, refreshing topping (or 3). Following this structure and inspiration (and with some basic cooking skills) I bet you could make countless variations of tasty tacos from things you already have - if you let yourself get creative with it! Getting back to our main topic...

Over the years I have come up with my own favorite “formats,” which I've taught in my online cooking course, Intuitive Cooking 101, and some of which I’ve written about previously: marinated salads, sauté bowls, and slow-cooker beans to name a few.

Because I eat what I call “Veggie-Centric” 80% of the time, many of the formats I cook from are based on fresh veggies. However, I also have several pantry-based formats. Slow-cooker beans is one, pantry pasta is another, and pantry soccas/layered meals is another that I’ll introduce at a later date.  

Pantry pasta is the meal I make when either a) I don’t have any fresh food in the house, or b) I’m too lazy to think of anything else. My pantry-based meals are also a great way to use up fresh odds and ends that need to get eaten.

My personal pantry pasta starts with two key ingredients: 1) dry pasta and 2) slow-roasted tomatoes. To make it, I simply warm up the tomatoes and olive oil, cook pasta, and then mix the pasta into the tomatoes and olive oil, top with salt + pepper, and VOILA!

I slow-roast tomatoes in large batches in the summer, specifically so that I can freeze small jars of them and make this pantry pasta all year long. My tomatoes are so flavorful and special that I can blissfully eat just pasta and the tomatoes, although I will often jazz this meal up with parmesan cheese, some wilted greens, and/or a sautéed onion/garlic/shallot/other veggies in addition. If I’m needing some protein, I might top with some toasted walnuts or pine nuts, or throw in some sardines or anchovies - keeping with the “pantry-based” theme.

I can't lie to you, my summer-slow-roasted tomatoes are what MAKE my pantry pasta, but of course there are other great options if you want to try this but don’t also have 10 jars of slow-roasted tomatoes in your freezer at all times like me 🤣 …

1. sun-dried tomatoes (in oil) - not quite as sweet/flavorful as slow-roasted, but similar! When you use the kind stored in olive oil, you have an automatic sauce and/or pre-flavored oil to cook a few lingering veggies in to add to your pasta.
2. store-bought roasted tomatoes from the olive bar - If you shop at a store with an olive bar, they will likely have some roasted tomatoes in there - check next time you go to the store. These are often DELICIOUS - in fact, I was obsessed with them as a kid. They may go by different names depending on your store, but they will just look like cooked tomatoes stored in oil. Try them out!
3. Molly, the blogger who wrote the original recipe that inspired me to start slow-roasting tomatoes, says she does it in the winter too (she recommends Roma tomatoes specifically) with great results!

One random note - most recently, my go-to pantry pasta inspired a FRESH meal... instead of using dry pasta, I combined my tomatoes with roasted spaghetti squash, and added some sauteed shallots and garlic. It was SO DELICIOUS!

In conclusion - here's your food for thought wrap up for today:

1) If you're making pasta only with tomato sauce, consider mixing it up with simple veggies sauteed in olive oil instead, and jazz it up with different cheeses, nuts, jarred foods (capers), etc. Pantry pasta is a great way to use up what's in the fridge!

2) Do you have a go-to "pantry meal" that you make often? Is it actually more of a FORMAT? If so, how might you start getting creative with it?!

3) If you have slow-roasted tomatoes, make pasta with them! If you haven't slow roasted tomatoes yet, make sure to try it this summer when they're in season, or even now if you're bored. See email here for more.

Happy cooking! And see below for a few photos of my various pantry pasta creations over the last year or two.

Love,
Jess