How to make the most of pantry staples during virus crisis
Need help to beat the bare supermarket shelves and lockdown blues? Here are seven recipes that make the most of tinned foods and frozen veggies to create family feeds with maximum flavour.
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New MasterChef Andy Allen says having time in lockdown can be a good opportunity to get creative in the kitchen.
Allen says there are a few essential items for the pantry which will help ensure ration recipes are interesting and tasty and devoured by the whole family.
“No matter what cuisine you’re looking to master while in lock down, you have to stock the flavour bombs that boost dishes to the ultimate level. For me, things like anchovies, miso, dried mushrooms, kimchi, or a jar of XO sauce are good places to start when what wanting introduce max flavour into lockdown dinners.”
Allen says there’s nothing wrong with using frozen vegetables in dishes, especially peas.
Mushy peas with salsa verde – a blitzed sauce of green herbs, capers, garlic and olive oil – is one of his favourite things to do with a bag of frozen peas.
“The other product you’ll find in my freezer is a roll of filo pastry. You’ll be amazed at how good most things taste when rolled in a few sheets of flaky goodness.”
And you’d be hard-pressed to find a pantry without a few tins of tuna, which Allen says is super simple to transform into an Italian-style pasta bake.
“For those who have a bottle of pasta sauce in the cupboard, this once for you,” Allen says. Warm the pasta sauce to which you’ve added some black olives and capers. Fold through a large can of tuna, along with pre-cooked penne. Pour the mixture into a baking dish, grate parmesan and cheddar over the top and cook in the oven until golden.
“Throw on some roughly chopped basil to finish and take to the table,” he says
Here are a few more recipes from Allen to make the most of what’s in the cupboard or freezer over the coming weeks to ensure a family feed that’s minimal fuss but packs maximum flavour.
MasterChef Australia – Back To Win premieres Monday, April 13 at 7.30PM on 10.
ANDY ALLEN’S SWEET POTATO HUMMUS
INGREDIENTS
150g cooked sweet potato flesh
300g chickpeas
50g tahini
125ml lemon juice
150ml extra virgin olive oil
1 large garlic clove
Salt and pepper to taste
Garnish
Half a brown onion (roasted in the oven until golden and crispy)
Toasted white and black sesame seeds
Smoked paprika
Finely sliced chives
METHOD
This one’s pretty easy. Place everything in a food processor and blitz until smooth.
A couple of tips though: roast the sweet potato whole in the oven at 160C until it’s tender. Then slice open the potato length ways and scoop out the flesh with a spoon.
BRUSSELS SPROUT AND BUTTER BEAN SALAD WITH ANCHOVY VINAIGRETTE
INGREDIENTS
1tbs extra virgin olive oil
1kg brussels sprouts – halved
400g butter beans – drained and washed
1 bunch parsley – washed and leaves picked
1 bunch mint – washed and leaves picked
3 eschalots – peeled and finely sliced
1/2 cup toasted pepitas
1 green chilli – finely sliced
Anchovy vinaigrette
10 anchovy fillets
2 tsp Dijon mustard
1 clove garlic – minced
50ml red wine vinegar
75ml extra virgin olive oil
METHOD
For the dressing, place all of the ingredients into a small blender or bar mix and blend until the dressing is emulsified.
Pre heat grill to high.
Place a large pan over a medium to high heat.
Add the olive oil and then arrange the brussels sprouts halved side down around the pan. Season well with salt and pepper. Caramelise the brussels sprouts for around 3 minutes until they get some good colour on the underside. Transfer the pan to under the grill. Colour the top side of the brussels sprouts until nearly blackened – trust me.
While hot, transfer the sprouts into a large mixing bowl along with the rest of the salad ingredients. Dress generously with the anchovy vinaigrette and season well with salt and pepper. Toss the salad making sure that everything is coated with the dressing.
CHORIZO, TOMATO AND BEAN MIX
INGREDIENTS
2tbs extra virgin olive oil
1 large brown onion – diced
2 garlic cloves – roughly chopped
1 chorizo sausage – diced into 1cm chunks
1 tsp chilli flakes
2 tsp smoked paprika
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1tbs tomato paste
800g crushed tinned tomatoes
1 can borlotti beans – drained and washed
salt and pepper to taste
4 slices of sourdough – toasted when ready to plate
4 eggs – fried when ready to plate
METHOD
Place a medium sized saucepan over a medium to high heat. Add the chorizo to a touch of olive oil and saute until it starts to caramelise. Reduce heat to medium and add the rest of the olive oil, diced brown onion and garlic. Sweat this mixture for 5 minutes until the onions become translucent.
Next, add the smoked paprika and chilli flakes, cumin and coriander. Cook the spices out for a further 5 minutes, then add the tomato paste. Continue to stir the mix for another couple of minutes until the tomato paste has been cooked out and then add the crushed tomatoes.
Bring the mixture to the boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer. Let the mix reduce on the stove for 15 minutes, making sure it doesn’t stick.
Once the mix is tasty, stir through the borlotti beans, making sure to season with salt and pepper. When you’re ready to serve, spoon onto the toasted sourdough and top with the fried egg.
MUSHY PEAS AND SALSA VERDE
INGREDIENTS
300g frozen peas – defrosted
2tbs extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
Salsa verde
1/2 bunch parsley – leaves picked
1/2 bunch basil – leaves picked
1/2 bunch mint – leaves picked
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1tbs red wine vinegar
zest of 1 lemon
1/2 a clove garlic – minced
1tbs baby capers
3tbs extra virgin olive oil
METHOD
Place all of the ingredients for the salsa verde into a small blender and blitz until the mixture comes together. Next add half the peas and the 2tbs of extra virgin olive oil to the blender and blitz until they’re finely chopped.
Spoon the pea mix into a bowl and pour in the rest of the whole peas. Season the mix well with salt and pepper and serve with a dollop of creme fraiche on top.
WANT MORE RECIPES? TRY THESE FROM TASTE
Keep calm and carry on cooking — we’ve got you covered.
That is the message from Australia’s most popular recipe website and brand, taste.com.au, as Aussies deal with a lack of their usual ingredients caused by panic-buyers.
Taste has launched a new section called Keep Calm Kitchen which specialises in recipes calling for fewer elements, like two-ingredient bread or a cheesecake made out of tinned goods.
It also features meal plans, shopping lists, live dinnertime cook-alongs, how-to guides, latest supermarket updates, videos and infographics; and the team are on standby on taste’s social media to answer your questions.
Here are three top recipes from the Taste team:
TWO-INGREDIENT BREAD
Searches for bread recipes went up 80 per cent in the past fortnight. While many people may have a bag of flour in the pantry, yeast is now really hard to get hold of. So try this yeast-free version:
INGREDIENTS
300g (2 cups) self-raising flour
260g (1 cup) Greek-style yoghurt
METHOD
1. Place the flour in a bowl. Add the yoghurt and stir until just combined. Turn onto a well-floured surface and knead until well combined.
2. Divide the dough into 6 portions. Use a well-floured rolling pin to roll out 1 portion to an 18cm disc.
3. Heat a barbecue grill or chargrill pan on medium-high. Cook the flatbreads, in batches, for 1-2 mins each side or until charred and cooked through.
4. Serve with dips, turn into a pizza or an open sandwich, or even top with Nutella and berries for an easy dessert.
CREAMY CHICKEN RISONI
Risoni: it’s Australia’s most misunderstood pasta, which is why it is largely left on the shelf during panic buying. As a pasta that looks and behaves a bit like rice, it is perfect for bakes, risottos and even fried rice dishes. Searches for risoni were up 61 per cent in the past fortnight as people struggled to make sense of what to do with it. This is one of Taste’s top dishes.
INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
8 (about 1.2kg) chicken drumsticks
1 leek, trimmed, sliced
200g button mushrooms
6 large sage leaves, torn
305g (1 1/2 cups) dried risoni
750ml (3 cups) Massel salt reduced chicken style liquid stock
300ml ctn pouring cream
150g (1 cup) frozen peas
Finely grated parmesan, to serve (optional)
Shredded lemon zest, to serve (optional)
Fried sage leaves, to serve (optional)
(If you can’t get hold of leeks, you could swap them for onion. And if mushrooms are hard to find, try adding chopped pumpkin or extra frozen veg instead.)
METHOD
1. Preheat oven to 200C/180C fan forced. Place a large baking dish in the oven for 5 minutes or until hot.
2. Remove the baking dish from the oven. Drizzle 3 tsp oil over the base of the dish. Add the chicken, leek, mushrooms and sage. Season. Drizzle over remaining 3 tsp oil. Bake for 20 minutes or until the chicken is golden.
3. Use tongs to turn the drumsticks. Sprinkle the risoni between the drumsticks. Pour over the stock and cream. Bake for a further 30 minutes or until the chicken is golden and cooked through and the liquid is almost absorbed.
4. Transfer the drumsticks to a plate and cover with foil. Add the peas to the risoni and stir well to combine. Set aside for 5 minutes or until peas are warmed through. Return the chicken to the dish. Sprinkle with parmesan, lemon zest and fried sage leaves, if you like.
CONDENSED MILK AND FRUIT SALAD CHEESECAKE
In challenging times everyone needs a little dessert in their lives. This cheesecake from Australia’s Best Recipes is made entirely from pantry and fridge staples. You don’t even need to turn on your oven to make it.
INGREDIENTS
200g plain sweet biscuits
100g butter, melted
500g cream cheese, at room temperature
395g tin condensed milk
1 tsp vanilla essence
3 tsp gelatine powder
300ml thickened cream, whipped
820g tin fruit salad in juice
METHOD
1. Lightly grease a 24cm springform cake tin with butter and line the base and sides with baking paper. In a food processor, blitz biscuits into a fine crumb. Add butter and blitz until just combined. Pour into the prepared tin and use a large spoon to press into an even layer in the base. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
2. Wipe out the bowl of the food processor, then add cream cheese, condensed milk and vanilla. Process until smooth.
3. Place 2 tbs boiling water in a small bowl and sprinkle over gelatine powder. Whisk with a fork until gelatine is completely dissolved. Add to cream cheese and blitz to combine. Fold through whipped cream.
4. Pour half the cream cheese mixture into the prepared tin on top over the biscuit base. Drain fruit salad well and layer over the cream cheese. Top with remaining cream cheese mixture and smooth over the top. Refrigerate for at least an hour, or overnight, to set.
5. Just before serving, release the cheesecake from the tin and carefully remove baking paper and transfer to a serving plate. Slice an