Every kitchen has at least one or two (or 10) specialty ingredients taking up space in the fridge or pantry. But if you broaden your scope, they can add layers to your cooking in new and unexpected ways.
Why not stir a tablespoon of green curry into your next risotto? Sprinkle earthy turmeric into mashed potatoes? Perk up a pork chop with five-spice seasoning? Add molasses to caramelized onions? Play with what you’ve got, and infinite options open up.
Sleek, sophisticated and nearly effortless, this creamy miso pasta is the happy result of just that kind of experimentation, a poorly stocked fridge and zero motivation to cook or clean. Chips and salsa would have sufficed, but there was only pasta (because there is almost always pasta). And butter, and some wedge of hard cheese, and a huge number of condiments that rarely see the light of day.
A cacio e pepe would have fit the bill, but what about something more complex? Capers might have added acidity, or turmeric some earthiness. Red curry paste was a wild card. After a thorough scan of the fridge and pantry, an option emerged: Pasta would serve as the bulk, butter the conduit and miso the spark, adding a complexity beyond Parmesan’s blunt salinity.
With the spaghetti boiling away in a pot of water, the work was nearly done. The active portion of this recipe takes minutes: Using a pair of tongs, vigorously toss the cooked pasta with melted butter, miso, shredded Parmesan and enough pasta water to form a creamy sauce. Dinner for one, cobbled together with ingredients that were on hand, was great — and actually something worth serving to company.
You could toss a handful of sliced nori or furikake on top, which would add nice briny notes. But you might as well prowl your pantry or refrigerator to see what else might fit the bill. Sliced scallions or chives, panko bread crumbs, toasted sesame seeds or even some Sriracha might do. Follow your impulses, work with what you have and you might create your next favorite recipe.
