Every week I do my best to meal prep, planning each day’s menu to ensure that I have enough food options to get through the week without having to make extra trips to the store. I do a pretty good job with it, but inevitably by Friday I’m out of food and scrounging for something to eat out of the fridge or the pantry. Sometimes, laziness and cereal or delivery win, but more often than not, I whip up what has become my go-to meal for the what am I going to eat blues – garlic seafood pasta. It’s fast, easy, and has a complete protein-carbs-fat-veggie profile. This concoction uses only those pantry, fridge and freezer staples that I’m 99.9% guaranteed to have around:
Photo credit: Chrissy Barua, The Hungary Buddha
Dried pasta
Garlic
Lemon
Parmesan
Frozen Peas or frozen spinach
Tinned seafood in olive oil
Basil for freshness (my basil plant still holding strong despite my charcoal thumb)
Extra drizzle of olive oil, if you like
The best thing about this meal is the versatility, and the variety comes from whatever type of tinned seafood you opt in to that day. Miss Can, straight from Portugal and sold at the Deli, comes in enough varieties to never get bored, and I like to keep a handful of tins on hand for those Friday night fridge droughts, or weeknights that seem to get away from me. Today’s recipe for Garlic Seafood Pasta uses the octopus in olive oil and chopped razor clams in brine. I favor the tins that contain olive oil they contain enough to cook everything up without needing to add anything else. One less ingredient for what can easily be a 5- ingredient meal. Start out by cooking whatever noodles you like, al dente. (Fun fact- Taylor’s Swift’s All Too Well (TMV) is the PERFECT length of time to cook up your pasta to perfection. The more you know.)
While the noodles cook, you can whip up the rest, meaning dinner is on the table in less than 15 minutes. Remember the seafood is already cooked, so it’s just about softening the garlic and heating everything through. Finish the dish with Parmesan, fresh pepper, a squeeze of lemon, basil if you have it, and a last drizzle of oil over the whole thing. I love this California varietal because it has a nice peppery finish that’s just delicious. Use this recipe as a base and mix up the fish as you wish. Want to add some tomatoes or another sauce to it? Go for it. I’m confident this dish will become a staple for you, too. And it’s even good enough to proudly serve to any company should a neighbor pop over for a chat. Best to stock your pantry now, because those wonderful chaotic holidaze are upon us, and the last thing you want to have to worry about is what to put on the table at night. You can find all of your favorite flavors of Miss Can tinned fish at the Deli, so be sure to stop by and pick up your favorites!
Serves 2 Cooking time: 15 minutes
INGREDIENTS
1 can Miss Can octopus in olive oil, chopped 1 can Miss Can razor clams in brine, chopped 8 clove garlic, chopped 1 lemon 1 cup frozen peas, thawed ½ cup grated or shredded Parmesan 4 ounces dried spaghetti or fettuccine noodles ¼ cup torn fresh basil Salt & pepper, to taste Olive oil, to garnish Crushed red pepper, optional
DIRECTIONS
Photo credit: Chrissy Barua, The Hungary Buddha
In a deep sauté pan, cook the noodles to package directions. Drain and rinse with cold water and set aside.
Dry out your noodle pot and to that over medium heat, all the olive oil from the squid can and the garlic. Let cook for 2 minutes until the garlic starts to brown and become fragrant. Add the chopped seafood, pasta, and peas back to the pan and toss everything together.
Squeeze the lemon over everything, toss with Parmesan and divide onto two plates, adding extra salt and pepper, and crushed red pepper if desired. Garnish with basil and a final drizzle of olive oil and serve immediately.
About Chrissy
Chrissy Barua is the author of the food blog The Hungary Buddha Eats the World. Over the past thirteen years, she’s created recipes for the home cook inspired by her upbringing and her travels. Her culinary skills are self-taught; she learned to appreciate food from her mother, learned how to cook food by watching Rachel Ray, and learned how to really eat and enjoy food from traveling with her equally hungry friends. She collects recipes from anywhere she can find them: books, in-flight magazines, newspapers, the internet and, if she can connive them out of them, her friends and their grandmas. The name of her blog, The Hungary Buddha, is inspired by her own multi-cultural upbringing, and is a nod to both of her parents.
