My Wednesday Pantry-A Few Hit's from the Week

     I started this before the election day-so just going to ignore for the morning and take it all in internally, but externally, focus on food. We all just need to wait and see. I have been pretty lazy in my kitchen since our week of vacation using a lot of freezer and pantry staples, and  convenience foods.  I was a little more adventurous in the last week. 

Squash, apple and onion pizza

     Thursday we followed a recipe for the butternut squash-apple and caramelized onion  pizza.  that we made for my daughters early birthday meal. If you would like a totally vegan and not just vegetarian option, this was a good one that satisfied my meat and cheese loving husband. He wouldn't classify it as a pizza, but enjoye dit none the same. As nt my recipe, please use th elink though I'll share some of my changes. FIrst, I didn't have lemons so just used lemon juice from the bottle. I would use 50% if not 100% more next time. I'd also double up on all the seasonings to brin g out  more flavor. I think the bean spread would be a nice  pasta sauce, particularly with spinach and other vegetables. Speaking of spinach, we didn't have nay so just skipped. As for the crust I made my own:

• Three Cups flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1tsp baking powder
• 1 Tbls sugar
• 1/3 cup  Olive oil, plus a splash at end to coat the ball
• Cold water drizzled in a bit at a time , probably used about 1/2 a cup

     Blend well, then knead into a ball, coat with oil and let rest for 20-30 minutes. Normally I par bake pizza crust before topping bu tthe recipe did not say to do such, and I think I understand why. To ensure the apple cook, and the toppings heat through to the bean sauce base, the whole dish needed a good 20 minutes to bake. 

The finished rustic pizza.

Mushroom Ravioli in garlic and parmesan sauce

     Monday I was in a pasta mood, but after having  pepperoni pizza on Saturday, and leftovers worth for a couple lunches, I was looking for something other than a red pasta sauce. Now, I did use frozen mushroom pasta from Trader Joe's, with the intention of a sauce of my own creation. Then I read the package and it said it came in a  truffle sauce. Still, I needed to use the veg I had, and so the end result was a mix of the sauce I had, and the truffle sauce. Kudos to those of you that would or have taken the time to make your own ravioli-that would be phenomenal. 

     I heated about two tablespoons of olive oil in a large saucepan. I sliced 1/2 a zucchini fairly thin, and tossed the slice in along with the last of some grape tomatoes I had still from our cabin week, along with a couple teaspoons of garlic powder and Italian seasoning. Once the veggies were heated, zucchini soft and tomatoes popping, I added a few tablespoons of water and the frozen  ravioli and sauce cubes, cooking for two minutes covered, gently stir, and then turned down to low for another five minutes. The end result was far superior than I think the frozen package alone would have been. It was creamy and fragrant, and the pop of vegetables really went well with the pasta. I will hunt for plain stuffed ravioli and give the sauce another go, maybe adding a little butter or cream and other flavors. 

     I'm planning a few more partially homemade, partially using some convenience items. Plans include chicken tortellini soup, pork carnitas with rice, squash lasagna, zucchini boats, spicy bean meatballs in pepper sauce to name a few. What have you been cooking from your pantry lately? Any recommendation you think I should try from staples most of us have on hand?