Recession Consumption: Eat What's in Your Pantry

Buy some parsley on the way home. That may be all you need to make a satisfying, stupidly easy & seriously authentic Italian dinner. Aio Oio (that’s Roman Slang for pasta with garlic & oil) is what Italians throw together instead of ordering pizza when they suddenly find themselves with some drunken and hungry friends over.

Stuff you probably already have:

(unless you are one of those Manhattanites that uses their oven for extra storage)

olive oil
a box of spaghetti
garlic
red pepper flakes

All you need is parsley! And about 15 minutes.

I realize this isn’t high on the nutritional value scale. Use the Barilla Plus pasta with Protein and Omega 3s instead if you want to feel less guilty.

Boil the spaghetti with extra salt (there's no salt in the sauce). Chop 2 tablespoons parsley. Heat 1/3 cup olive oil in a pan on medium low with 2 teaspoons garlic (chopped very fine, or put through the garlic press) and red pepper flakes to taste (a little goes a long way-- 1/2 a teaspoon will do, add more if you like it hot!). Let the garlic turn pale gold but no darker. Drain the pasta, put it in a bowl, pour the entire contents of the pan over it and toss. Add parsley and toss again.

Dinner for under $3!!