After a delayed start thanks to the California wildfires, Meghan Markle's new reality show, With Love, Meghan, has certainly got everyone talking. But it's not just Meghan's amazing outfits, the show's reviews, or the celebrity cameos that's causing a stir on the internet. It's in fact, a pasta recipe. Allow us to explain.
In episode one, we see Meghan invite around her friend Daniel Martin, a makeup artist who has known Meghan since her Suits days. While chatting to Daniel, Meghan shared her one-pan recipe for 'skillet spaghetti', - a dish which involved putting dry pasta in a skillet filled with feta and cherry tomatoes before adding approximately three and a half cups of boiling water. She tells Daniel how the US twist on the Italian staple is a favourite with her children Archie, five, and Lilibet, three. 'When I make this, I make it for my family,' she says, adding 'not that my children are eating heaps of noodles but I will make enough so that I can put leftovers in their lunchbox.'
Meghan also adds chard and kale to the pot, and describes the pasta as 'noodles.' She lets the spaghetti cook for about 'four or five minutes until the noodle is done, al dente', before comparing the finished dish to 'that Beyonce song... Cosy.'
After the episode, people took to social media to share their thoughts on Meghan's recipe. Of course, it's worth bearing in mind that the anti-Meghan brigade will latch onto anything she does and criticise it - even if it is pasta. However, one Italian took to X to comment on her cooking skills, suggesting that pouring boiling water from a kettle onto 'raw' pasta goes against 'the basics' of Italian cookery. Another social media user described the recipe as 'Pinterest Pot Noodle', while another said 'With so little water, the dish must be a gluey, sticky, starchy brick.' A third pointed out 'Looks like fettuccini or linguini to me, not spaghetti.'
However, others reacted more positively to Meghan's recipe. One X user wrote 'Just watched ep 1 of With Love, Meghan and thought it was cute. In fact the one-pan pasta recipe is on my to-do list.' A second user wrote 'watching 'with love, meghan' and i've found my new comfort show -- i too wanna make a hearty pasta, fresh herbal tea, and a homemade cake for my loved ones!!' A third agreed, writing 'I’m sorry but that food is making me very hungry @netflix ! So good ! We should have been warned to bring snacks…to the party The pasta! The Fish … Kelly ! Abbie and Meghan ..the cutest #WithLoveMeghan.'
Who knew pasta could be so controversial?