5 Items to Always Keep in Your Pantry, According to YouTube Star Laura Vitale

WhenLaura Vitale’s not busy filming herYouTubeshowLaura in the Kitchen, testing recipes, or checking in with her viewers to see what they’re craving, she’s still cooking—this time, for herself and her family. She saves leftovers from the show for post-filming meals and packs them up for lunches during the week, saying what her audience sees is “very much a normal kitchen.” She tries to upload videos based on how she cooks everyday; weekday meals are quick, like herone-pan烤鲑鱼fajitas, while the weekends are filled with慢炖锅recipes, lasagna, and baked goods. When she’s in a pinch, she relies on a well-stockedpantry—and there are five things she always keeps on hand for a quick meal. Vitale's list includes classics like EVOO (aMerriam-Websterrecognized word, in case you didn’t know) and pasta, but others, like harissa paste, may surprise you. Check out all of her recommendations below:

"Harissa paste is a North African chili paste that adds lovely heat and dimension to pretty much anything. So I love to add it to a marinade for fish, chicken, vegetables—I recently made a marinade foreggplant我烤了，真是太美味了。我把它涂在一些茄子上，在肉鸡下泡泡，然后用一些混合的芥末蔬菜将其送给它。”

“I always keep a very good extra virgin olive oil [on hand], because it’s perfect for the base of a dressing, or a finishing touch on, say, really goodgrilled fish. It’s sort of like a king, it has to live in my pantry," Vitale says."I’m a fan of Bertolli olive oil, I’ve been using it my whole life. Their extra virgin olive oil has got this perfect balance between fruity and bitter, and it’s just so good.”

"I get my salt from a local Italian shop, this deliciousSiciliansea salt that I think makes anything better," she says. "I mean, a pinch of that on a chocolate cake or a pinch of that in some chocolate chunk cookies is really…you don’t really taste salt, but it just makes everything taste better. And I also love a pinch of that on really good salad, or some tomatoes."

"I love to havechickpeas手上。I would say that’s probably my favorite quick go-to ingredient if I want to make something that doesn’t require cooking," Vitale says. "I love to keep a couple of cans of really good organic chickpeas that I can do a salad with, or you know, smash it and make abruschettawith it, which is my favorite. So good. Smash that up with some vinegar, and olive oil, so good on toasted bread."

"Very last minute, [you can] boil some pasta, sauté some garlic, pine nuts, Calabrian chilis, and some good olive oil," she says. "[Then], drain your pasta, toss it in, a little bit of Parm, and boom, dinner’s ready. I really like the Anna brand, DeCecco, and Barilla. Those would be my three top favorites."