The Secret to Giada De Laurentiis' New Parm-Free Pasta Comes From Japan

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Everyone has their recipe crutches. Some people can’t make a meal without adding butter, some people always use a ton of black pepper, and others wouldn’t dream of cooking a meal in something other than their trusty cast iron pan. But for Giada De Laurentiis, it seems like the one thing she can’t do without in the kitchen is Parmigiano Reggiano…until now. De Laurentiis has found a way to add serious umami to a pasta dish without using cheese, and she swears that it’s “So flavorful, you won’t miss the Parmesan!”

So, how does De Laurentiis build big flavor into her latest pasta recipe without using Parmesan? First of all, she crisps up pancetta to add to the top of the pasta, and uses the rendered fat to help build the sauce. But the real secret is that De Laurentiis adds a generous scoop of white miso paste to her sauce. Miso is a Japanese ingredient made from koji fermented soy beans. Miso comes in different colors, but white and yellow miso are the mildest options, with a flavor that’s salty, savory, and slightly sweet. It adds a similar punch of umami to a recipe as Parmesan cheese, which is why it works so well in De Laurentiis’ pasta recipe.

The other ingredients in this simple pasta sauce are butter (butter and miso are amazing together, and butter and pasta are obviously a match made in heaven) and some starch-rich pasta water to help emulsify it all together. The sauce is paired with wilted baby spinach and bucatini pasta. Bucatini is a hearty round pasta noodle similar to spaghetti, but with one big difference: each noodle has a hole running through its middle. This makes the noodles exceptional at soaking up sauces, and they also have a hearty bite that’s especially welcome in simple dishes like this one, where each ingredient really stands out.

Whether you’re cooking for someone who doesn’t like cheese or just want to try something different for dinner, Giada De Laurentiis’ 5-ingredient miso pancetta pasta could be the weeknight recipe you’re searching for.

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