By now we have all seen the images and experienced first-hand supermarket shelves ransacked and depleted of toilet roll, hand sanitiser... and pasta, of course.
Many of those shoppers also stocked up on pre-made pasta sauce, tinned tomatoes and cheese; no doubt wanting meals that would be cheap and super easy to make. But the reality is that, for most, there's only so many times they can eat pasta and pre-made tomato sauce before they get bored... And that's where leading chefs and food writers have stepped in!
Unsurprisingly, most popular recipes share a few things in common - they are inexpensive, quick to throw together, and made to be adaptable to whatever is lying in your fridge and pantry. The TFP team has been busy trawling all these sources to pick out underlying trends and recipes which indicate how people want to eat right now; read on to see what we found.
Full Of Beans
Arguably the only thing flying off supermarket shelves faster than pasta (besides bog roll, obviously!) are beans - both dried, and tinned - because (like pasta) beans are cheap, filling and long-lasting. What's more, they are full of nutritional value. No surprise, then, that we are seeing bean recipes everywhere - but it's not all baked beans and chilli, folks. Pasta recipes incorporating beans are proving super popular, in particular, hearty and comforting Italian-style Pasta e Fagioli (aka Pasta & Borlotti Beans).
Twisted Classic
Being housebound doesn't mean you can't have a bit of fun! People are reading, playing board games, exercising, learning new languages... and the most fun of all? Playing with their food, of course. The extra time arising from lockdown measures creates the space to explore new ideas, whilst the need to make a few ingredients go a long way encourages people to get creative - i.e. think on their feet, make substitutions and mess around with leftovers.
No Meat, No Problem
Over the last couple of years, arguably the biggest trend to sweep the food world has been the rise of plant-based eating. And though we are currently living in uncertain and troubled times, there are plenty of quick and easy plant-based recipes circulating helping those stick to their chosen dietary lifestyle using pantry staples. Indeed, expect to see plenty of innovation from at home chefs in the coming months, as all the extra time spent indoors provides the opportunity to experiment and get creative with meat substitutes.
Read more pasta trends, including the recipes above, by visiting the official tfptrendhub here.