The $4 in the title is going to start a fight, so I'll start it: that depends enormously on where you live and whether you count the olive oil you already had.

Pantry pasta is always priced at the marginal cost of whatever you didn't already have. Tonight, for me, that's zero, because I am not going to the shop.

Everyone's pantry pasta is a regional dialect. Mine is garlic, chilli flakes, a tin of anchovies and too much pecorino. My partner's is butter, black pepper and frozen peas, and we have agreed not to discuss it.

Frozen peas in pasta is a perfectly respectable choice and I will not be taking questions.

What I like about Weeknight Table is that the recipe starts at the top of the post. No three paragraphs about a trip to Umbria first. I subscribed after the rice one.

The rice one fixed my rice, which I had been getting wrong for fifteen years with total confidence.

Starchy pasta water is the cheapest ingredient in the kitchen and most people pour it down the sink. Save a mugful before you drain. That's the whole tip.