How Far Can I Push The Pantry (HFCIPTP) # 3: Pasta sauce

Here is another in the series of using up stuff in my pantry to whip up balanced meals. A few thoughtful opening and closing of pantry and refrigerator doors later, I had my mind made up. It was going to be pasta that day with ready made sauce. Then as I put the pot of water on the stove and waited for it to boil, I remembered Indira's recipe of pasta sauce which used peanuts. That got my mind scheming on how I can adapt that recipe to my limited pantry. After a few seconds, the answer seemed obvious.

This is why I love blogging and blog hopping. I find myself spending less and less time pondering about whats for dinner. Thank to all fellow food bloggers for sharing the seemingly mundane details of what you had for dinner/lunch!

On to the sauce... lets give it a name "Roasted Pepper sauce with peanuts and soy burgers". I don't have a picture of this yet, but it was delicious (for now you have to just take my word for it)! Will update with the pic soon.

Roasted Pepper sauce with peanuts and soy
2 cups roughly chopped bell peppers 1/2 cup roasted peanuts 1 frozen veggie burger, thawed and chopped 2 tsp olive oil	Heat oil in a skillet, add the chopped peppers and roast well untill browned. You may also use onions in this step if you have some in your pantry. Add roasted peanuts and chopped burger and cook till the the burger is slightly browned as well. Cool and process in a blender to desired smoothness/chunkiness.
2 cups Ragu pasta sauce (Optionally, use canned or fresh tomatoes) 2 tsp sugar grated parmesan/romano cheese to taste	Return the blended pepper mixture to the skillet and add the tomato sauce and sugar. Stir until heated though.Serve over cooked pasta,topped with grated cheese and crushed pepper.

The sauce was ready with the pasta and tasted great for a last minute meal.

HFCIPTP #1: Veggie Pizza Indian Style

How Far Can I Push The Pantry... This is the question I have been asking myself. It has been almost four weeks since a visit to the grocery store. Most of the perishable items I have are mostly wholesale items purchased at the local Costco (carrots, peppers). We were planning of going shopping over the weekend, but the Nor'easter came gatecrashing into the east coast. We got plenty of the white stuff and sat at home with friends, sipping Leo coffee.

Picture taken by Hubbie after about 15 in of snow had fallen

I am prepared for this pantry stretching challenge, and to start off, I made (streched :) ) some pizza. I used a breadmaker to prepare the pizza dough. But it is really easy to make it by hand too. Here's a recipe from Priya. Be sure you have active dry yeast and some all purpose/whole wheat/bread flour in your pantry. My pizza dough from the breadmaker rose bountifully.

Pizza Dough - risen and all ready to roll

Like I said - no melting cheeses (I had a small amount of processed Amul cheese from the Indian store), no tomatoes for the sauce... just some peppers, chilies, my last onion and some garlic. Here is an Indian take on pizza. I think Hubbie and I like this better than regular cheesy pizzas.

Indian Style Veggie Pizza
1 recipe for 10-in pizza crust dough	Roll out dough into a 10 in crust on a pizza tray. As far as possible try to strech by hand. It doesn't make the crust too dense, plus its fun!
5 tbsps spicy tomato ketchup (I used the Indian brand Maggi) 3 tbsps Garlic Chutney (Nupur's recipe, made ahead)	Spread ketchup on the crust and sprinkle generously with the chutney
1 onion, sliced into half-moons 2 garlic cloves, sliced 1 cup assorted colored peppers, sliced 2 chilies chopped fine some chopped chunks of Amul cheese (optional)	Top the crust evenly with the toppings. Bake in a 425F oven till crust is light brown. Remove from oven, cut into slices and serve. Top with crushed red pepper flakes.

I think I am now going to turn to Rajasthani or Jain dishes in the Indian cuisine, which do not use onions, garlic, tomatoes etc.