Welcome back to New Day Northwest.
You know how it goes after a long
day of schlepping kids being at the
office or even working from home.
And then you're faced with that question
that's like nails on a chalkboard.
What's for dinner?
Well, you may have a pantry full of stuff,
but you have no clue how to put it together.
But no problem in milk streets,
new book cook what you have.
Each recipe starts with easy to
find staples to transform meal
time from stressful to simple.
Editorial director Jim Hirsch is here.
Share and help us save the day.
We're gonna cook something so
easy it's gonna be delicious.
I love that.
Everything you ever do,
I feel like is easy to follow.
But this really, truly is
has the time right to go
shopping at the end of the day.
So we decided we're gonna tackle that.
We're gonna attack the pantry
and see what we can do.
OK, so So what do we got here?
OK, so we're making a roasted pasta sauce.
OK. The roasting concentrates
the flavour so you're getting
more flavour out of ingredients
you've already got lying around.
OK, OK, it's very simple.
We got here a can I have that?
Whole peeled tomatoes.
Alright, we're just gonna dump
it into this baking dish, OK?
Alright then we've got some garlic.
OK, but as much as you like, can I
use the one that's in the jar? I know.
That's no OK, if you
really must. Alright, alright.
But put as much or as little garlic
as you want, OK. Red pepper flakes.
As much or as little as you want. OK.
I mean this is the theme here, right?
Right. OK. And I would put way
more than that by the way.
Ohh you would. OK.
And this is a little bit of sugar that
balances the acidity of the tomatoes.
Yes, my grandma told me that.
Throw that in there.
The secret ingredient.
Anchovies.
Ohh don't make
that face. Well, you know what? Honestly,
I like eating food with anchovies in it,
but I don't like working with anchovies,
you know, that's the thing.
Though when you put them in food,
yeah, you melt away.
They melt away they do.
They just leave this savory
wonderfulness behind.
It's like the Parmesan cheese of
the seafood world, OK? And then
we're chubbies, the Parmesan
of the seafood world.
We're gonna throw some olive oil in there.
OK, OK. And then, I mean this is it.
This is. I mean, we're done, you know,
and you're just putting
that in a baking dish.
We are putting it in a baking dish. Throw
this in a 450 degree oven for 30 minutes.
In the dish. In the dish. That's OK.
Alright, easy peasy. I love that.
What you get is this awesomeness.
This is what I have seen over there.
And I was like, what is this? Now? This
is roasted. It's concentrated.
Alright, realized all the
natural sugars for extra flavour.
So I'm gonna ask you to
take the potato masher.
OK, push it away. Ohh. Alright.
And while you do that, ohh not.
Don't make a mess. I take our pasta.
We have penny here. But you know what?
Use whatever pasta you want.
OK, that's that's the whole thing.
Cook what you have and you can use
whatever type of pasta you have handy.
I'm having fun right now.
Ohh look at that.
That looks perfect. Alright. I
hate tomatoes so I like to smoosh them.
I know I'm probably the only
Italian in the tomatoes.
I don't like raw tomatoes,
I like cooked tomatoes.
Luckily we have cooked these really well. Yes
we have and I'm just trying to get
them out of their natural tomato form.
So you've got the tomatoes
and the garlic and the angels,
which you can't even see the.
Yeah, the anchovies are gone too.
Alright, dash.
I seem like such a complainer,
but I'm really not.
I just have, you know,
specific taste I'd love.
I didn't get that garlic.
Now I got to get that garlic.
Get that garlic. Yeah.
OK, we want all that flavour. Alright.
Now, once you've smooshed your sauce,
yes, we can dump it right in here
with our pasta that all we did was
cook and drain. Just dump it in.
Just dump it right in.
We've got this over medium.
I'm gonna turn up.
Yeah, you're gonna splash me there.
I'm sorry. Didn't
anyone warn you that I'm
like the worst to cook with?
Because I'm so messy? Sorry.
Alright, now the secret
ingredient at this stage, butter.
Butter really adds richness.
Creaminess. Ohh yes.
This doesn't make much. I
didn't even realize I've
never put butter in my pasta.
Ohh that is a secret from old Italy.
Little butter, little tomato,
little salt, little garlic.
That's all you need.
Wow, my family's been holding out.
Now you're just gonna we're just gonna
stir this until it's nice and coated.
Now the other secret ingredient,
the last one. Pasta cooking water. Yes.
You always save it when you drain it.
It's all nice and starchy, right?
Yes. And you don't add a lot,
just a little bit. How long
does that last, by the way?
Like say I didn't finish all this and
I wanna like rehydrate later in the
micro. You could probably throw it in
the fridge for a day or two, day or two.
But we actually have a hack that
if you accidentally throw it away,
which, you know, we all do.
OK, a little bit of water,
warm water and a little bit of cornstarch.
Perfect. It's the same thing because
what's happening with pasta cooking water,
all you've done is leach out
the pasta during and the starch
from the pasta during cooking.
Got it? OK and and then it just.
Helps thicken the sauce and so much.
Good tip, so easy right? I
do add a lot of corn starch to everything.
When I forget that I made like
I made Mac and cheese the other day and I
added too much milk to the ohh prepackaged
powder and so I just like ohh cornstarch
that kids never noticed we're good.
This meal is on the table in 30 minutes.
It's so easy. That's why I love it. OK, so
alright, I'm gonna serve you some.
And then of course we
have the Parmesan cheese,
which is essential necessary.
Here we go. Ohh my gosh.
I literally have shredded parm in my.
Pantry or my fridge at all times.
Because it's just sometimes I just
eat it raw. Oh, oh, I'd like, yeah.
No, I will. I just keep a block in
the fridge and you just take a little
knife and you hack some off and
you just it's perfect. That sounds
delicious. There we go.
Alright. Thank you so much.
Thank you so much.
Great handy little meal.
And my grandma's gonna love this.
Umm, frankly, I'm surprised
at how flavor polishes.
Again, the oven did the workforce
because again, not that I would ever doubt
you because you've never steered me wrong,
but I am surprised when you look at this,
you don't think there's a whole lot of,
I mean, it's packed with flavor
and it was just ingredients in the pantry.
That's it. And it comes together so fast,
so easy, you don't have to go shopping.
And that's the whole point of the book is,
you know, we have so much food that we can
do so much with and the trick is to keep
some powerhouse ingredients in the pantry.
Well, tell us about those.
Yeah. So things like anchovies,
for example, and parmesan cheese. No.
Hot sauce, like sriracha. OK. Or miso.
You know, Japanese fermented soybean paste.
Yes. Amazing. Sweet and savory around.
Ohh. It's so good. Things like that.
OK, because then you can take
basics like a can of tomatoes.
Mm-hmm. Or a box of pasta.
Mm-hmm.
And you can jazz them up and totally
transform them with no effort.
That is amazing. I really have to.
I gotta get some anchovies.
I don't have any of those.
I got to get some of those.
But I will say. This is one of those
meals that just will keep you and
then you'll have it for the next day.
And the next day. Absolutely.
If you don't finish it.
What a great meal. Ohh my gosh, damn.
Thank you so much.
This is so delicious.
I can't wait to continue my lunch.
Alright, he is gonna have the recipe
for this delish pasta on our website.
Or you can just text the word recipe.
Just a word to
206-448-4545 and we'll text it right to you.
That's your dinner tonight.
You're welcome. I'll be right back.