In our household, when I’m feeling lazy, or the refrigerator is running low on fresh ingredients, we invariably turn to pasta to ease our minds and fill our bellies. There’s nothing fancy about pasta, but it provides a blank canvas onto which you can unleash your creativity and pantry staples. As a matter of fact, one of the first things I learned to make without a recipe was pasta.

These slinky strands of carbs need little to dress them up beyond a generous dose of oil, some aromatics and a source of umami. My oil of choice is usually olive oil, but this could be anything from butter to duck fat. On the aromatic front, you have your choice of hundreds of vegetables and spices such as garlic, shallots, lemon zest or thyme. Basically, if it smells good, there’s a good chance it will taste good in your pasta. continue →

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