The "Viral" Pasta

March 20, 2020

Is it too soon to joke about covid19 with the title of this post? In all fairness, Alison Roman's Caramelized Shallot Pasta did go viral over a month ago on the interwebs, before the current crisis. And yet it's also perfect hunkering down food since it uses pantry staples.

I've been having lots of feelings and thoughts this past week during my self-isolation but I'll spare you most of those details. It's just crazy to think about a week ago I baked and shared those savory hamantaschen with work colleagues and now the thought of doing that is horrifying.
I admire everyone who is partaking in therapeutic baking/cooking. On the other hand, I have found it hard to cook beyond what I need or even bake--two activities that I have always found stress relieving in the past. I know the desire will come back and maybe it will once I can brave the stores again to get my hands on shallots (or red onions can be substituted), a small can of tomato paste and a tin of anchovies to make this wonderfully delicious dish.

I only regret not saving the leftover caramelized onion paste before I went into social hibernation. Big. Mistake.
The Recipe: Alison Roman's Caramelized Shallot Pasta from NY Times Cooking (I couldn't find a link with free access to the recipe so maybe during this hunkering down time, you could subscribe and make other delicious recipes offered through NY Times Cooking). But here is a video of it on YouTube.

***I just wanna give Alison Roman a quick shoutout for not only creating a simple and relatively easy dish to make (minus chopping up all those shallots), but for also making a recipe that uses a whole can of tomato paste. Now we all don't have to wonder how to use up a whole can of tomato paste or even wonder how to store leftover anchovies since this also uses up a whole tin of anchovies! Genius!

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