- Drew Barrymore’s “garbage pasta” is a versatile meal made with pantry staples.
- The recipe uses fresh and frozen vegetables, chicken stock and pasta water for added flavor.
- It’s a quick, healthy option for using up leftover produce and making a satisfying dinner.
It’s Saturday, meaning your pantry and refrigerator might be bare-bones. Before you resort to takeout, Drew Barrymore has a recipe that you likely have the ingredients for.
The daytime host and actor calls it “garbage pasta,” which is essentially her version of pasta primavera. In this vibrant dish, Barrymore uses a mix of fresh and frozen veggies she has on hand to make a fiber-packed, satisfying dinner well-suited for any day of the week. Here’s how to make it.
Cook your pasta according to its package directions. And if you’re unsure of what shape to use, truly any shape that you have on hand will work for this—Barrymore used rigatoni in the cooking demonstration on The Drew Barrymore Show, but she also used spaghetti in a recent Instagram post.
While the pasta is boiling, start cooking down fresh chopped produce in a separate pot. Use whatever fresh vegetables you have on hand. For Barrymore, that’s things like broccoli florets, onions, bell peppers, carrots, spinach, kale and tomatoes. Then, pour in chicken stock before adding in your cooked pasta for a boost of flavor.
Once you start adding your pasta, this is when you’ll want to add your stash of frozen vegetables, whether it be peas, corn or a mixed veggie medley. Ladle in some pasta water as you incorporate these ingredients. For added nuttiness, Barrymore grates in fresh Parmesan and squeezes in lemon juice, which she states “brings out the flavor in ways you just couldn’t imagine possible.”
Valerie Bertinelli declares the pasta to be “so good,” and we can see why. It’s fresh, easy and healthy, making it the perfect lunch or dinner for when you don’t have time to plan ahead. For more ways to use up scraps in your kitchen, whip up a salad, make a stock or try our five-star Clean-Out-the-Fridge Vegetable Soup.