Pantry Raid: Thaitalian

A delicious discovery

I wasn’t expecting this meal to happen, which makes it all the more appropriate for a Pantry Raid feature, wherein I show you how to do a lot with a little. Staying at my brother’s, both of us jet-lagged, we found ourselves uninterested in going out for dinner. He’d been away for two weeks so there wasn’t much to work with, but after a quick inventory of fridge, freezer, and cupboards I had what I needed to make this frankly glorious pasta—so good I’ll definitely make it (or versions thereof) again, but deliberately next time and with a few more fresh ingredients.

Thai and Italian don’t initially seem like they have a lot in common, but all cuisines have more similarities than you think once you get under the hood and poke around with an understanding of how flavor works. Penne with shrimp and tomatoes sounds super-Italian, and I could have just left it at that. But the presence of some declining but still-viable aromatics in the back of the fridge dictated this marvelous mashup.

The point of this series is showing you how to make a proper meal out of random staples and leftovers, but also to illustrate how sometimes limitations can engender greatness—new and brilliant combinations that only arise because that’s what you happened to have. This was one such occurrence. My brother was kind of stunned at how good it was, and how much he enjoyed the leftovers for breakfast. As I said, this one’s a keeper that I would absolutely make for a crowd with minimal changes.