When you’re trying to keep within a budget, avoid another run to the supermarket, or stave off the boredom of being cooped up indoors, it’s a great time to start using up the ingredients that have been hiding in the back of your pantry for months.
It’s about using what you have to cook a flavoursome and diverse range of foods with basic pantry supplies.
These recipes are also adaptable to work with whatever you currently have on your shelves at home. Don’t have lentils for Colin Fassnidge’s spiced lentil stew? Try using tinned white beans instead. Only have canned peaches instead of apricots? They’ll work just as well for Shannon Martinez’s apricot crumble cake. Have fun playing around with the foundations of these recipes.
What to do with … all that rice
Make Kylie Kwong’s Mum world-famous fried rice
Prep 10 mins
Cook 30 minutes
Serves Four or as part of a shared meal for four to six
Kylie says: “Fried rice is a great dish to make from leftover rice, but can also be cooked using fresh rice. It is also delicious when eaten cold! I love the subtle scent of Jasmine rice and I like to use medium-grained rice. Yet any rice you’ve got in the pantry is fine for this recipe.”
4 free range eggs
⅓ cup vegetable oil
1 small red onion, finely diced
1 tablespoon ginger, finely diced
2 rindless bacon rashers, finely diced (optional)
2 teaspoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons shao hsing wine, or dry sherry
4 cups steamed jasmine rice
⅔ cup spring onions, finely sliced
2 tablespoons tamari
¼ teaspoon sesame oilBreak eggs into a bowl and beat lightly. Heat half the oil in a hot wok until the surface seems to shimmer slightly. Pour beaten eggs into wok and leave to cook on the base of wok for 10 seconds before folding egg mixture over onto itself with a spatula and lightly scrambling for about one minute or until almost cooked through. Carefully remove omelette from wok with a spatula and drain on paper towel. Set aside.
Heat remaining oil in hot wok and stir-fry onion, ginger and bacon for one minute.
Add sugar and stir-fry for 30 seconds. Pour in wine or sherry and stir-fry for one minute. Add rice to wok with spring onions, tamari, sesame oil and reserved omelette and stir-fry for two minutes or until well combined, and rice is heated through.
Use a spatula to break up the omelette into smaller pieces while cooking.
Transfer rice to a bowl and serve immediately – will also make a great lunch for the next day.
What to do with... that can of baked beans
Make Jacqui Challinor’s baked bean cassoulet
Prep 20 mins
Cook 1 hour
Serves Four
500g baked beans
200g smoked speck or streaky bacon, cut into 1cm cubes
1 tin crushed tomatoes
1 brown onion, finely diced
2 large cloves garlic, crushed
2 stalks celery, finely chopped
1 carrot, finely chopped
1 bunch parsley
2 bay leaves
50ml extra virgin olive oil
4 slices sourdough
50g cold butter
Salt
Black pepperHeat oil in a saucepan, add speck or bacon and cook until crispy and golden. Add the garlic, bay leaves and onion and cook out until lightly golden and aromatic. Add celery and carrot. Add baked beans, crushed tomatoes, salt and pepper to taste.
Put the lid on, reduce heat and allow to simmer for 30 minutes. While it’s simmering, remove the crust from sourdough, break bread down into 2cm pieces. In a food processor, combine bread, butter and a handful of parsley stalk and blitz to a rough crumb. Transfer the bean mixture to a baking dish, spread bread crumbs evenly over the top and bake in a 180C oven until the crumbs are golden and toasted.
Serve immediately, and unless cold baked beans is your thing – devour it all.
What to do with… the only box of risoni pasta left on the shelf
While much of the pasta aisle has fallen prey to panic buyers, risoni seems to have been spared. Which is good news for you, because you can…
Make Matt Moran’s chicken soup
Active prep 30 minutes
Cook 1 hour (5 hours if making stock from scratch)
Serves Four
For the stock
2.5kg chicken bones or wings
1 onion, roughly choppe
2 leeks, white part only, washed and roughly chopped
3 stalks celery, trimmed and roughly chopped
1 bulb garlic, cut in half crossways
1 bunch thyme
2 bay leaves
10 white peppercorns
For the soup
1.2kg chicken
3 litres chicken stock
1 bay leaf
1 sprig of thyme
Salt and pepper
1 cob sweetcorn, husk and silk removed
½ bunch curly kale, trimmed
2 tablespoons olive oil
½ leek, white part only, washed and chopped
150g risoni or other small pasta
¼ bunch tarragon, leaves picked
To make the stock
Place the chicken bones or wings in a large heavy based saucepan or stockpot and cover with water. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat to low and skim off any scum that has risen to the surface.
Add the onion, leek, celery, garlic, thyme, bay leaves and peppercorns and gently simmer for four hours, skimming occasionally. Strain through a fine –meshed sieve over a large heatproof bowl and set aside to cool. This can be stored in the fridge for up to four days or in the freezer for several weeks.
To make the soup
Place the chicken in a heavy based saucepan and pour over the stock – the chicken should be completely covered (top up with a little water if it isn’t).
Add the bay leaf and thyme and season lightly with salt and pepper. Bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat, then reduce the heat to hold at a very gentle simmer for 30 minutes.
Remove the chicken (reserve the stock) and shred the meat, discarding the skin and bones. Set aside.
While the chicken is cooling, cut the corn kernels from the cob. Tear the kale leaves into bite sized pieces and roughly chop the stalks. Heat the olive oil in a large heavy based saucepan over medium heat.
Add the leek and kale stalks, season with salt and pepper and cook for five minutes or until softened. Add the corn kernels and cook for two minutes, then add the kale leaves.
Strain the reserved chicken stock and pour over the vegetables, then add the pasta and bring to the boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to low-medium and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the shredded chicken and tarragon, increase the heat to medium high and return to the boil. Taste and adjust the seasoning, if required.
Ladle into serving bowls and serve, make big batches to freeze and used at a later time.
What to do with... those dried lentils you found in the back of the cupboard
Make Colin Fassnidge’s spiced lentil stew
Prep 20 mins
Cook 1 hour
Serves Four
300g lentils, dried
1 onion, diced
4 cloves of garlic, diced
1 carrot, sliced
Knob of ginger, sliced
4 bird’s eye chillies, sliced
1.5L chicken stock
3 tbsp miso paste
100ml white wine
1 tsp soy sauce, for seasoning
Sweat the vegetables in a saucepan for about five minutes until soft. Add lentils, continuously stirring, and add white wine to deglaze the pan.
Continue to cook until most of the liquid has evaporated and any crispy brown bits stuck to the bottom of your pan have been dissolved. Add the stock and bring to boil. Simmer until nearly cooked (about 15 to 20 minutes). Remove one third of your mixture and blend (either using a blender or another deep saucepan and a stick blender). Add this portion back to your original mix. Season with soy sauce and pepper.
Serve immediately, making sure you save some for your hangover breakfast on the weekend, with some grilled bread lathered in butter.
What to do with… tinned apricots
Make Shannon Martinez’s apricot crumble cake
Prep 45 min
Cook 45-55min
Serves Four
Shannon says: “Created as a recipe for the ‘Dine With Heart – Four Dollar Meal Challenge’ and coming in at only 65 cents a slice – She’s a keeper! And of course, all vegan.”
For the base
825g tin apricot halves, keep juice
1 ½ cup plain flour, sifted
3 tsp baking powder
½ cup caster sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp cardamom powder
3 tsp “no-egg” mixed with 4 tablespoons of cold water, (or an actual egg)
½ cup milk of choice
1 tsp vanilla
125g melted Nuttelex (or unsalted butter)
For the crumble
60 grams plain flour, sifted
1 tsp cinnamon
5 tbsp caster sugar
55g of Nuttelex, cold (or cold unsalted butter)
Sift the flour, baking powder and spices into a bowl. Add the sugar and mix. In a jug, mix the melted Nuttelex, no-egg mixture, vanilla and milk. Pour this into the dry mix. Stir until combined (batter will be thick).
To make the crumb, add the flour, cinnamon and sugar into a small bowl, then using your fingers mix the Nuttelex in, until it resembles crumble.
Grease and line the bottom of a 20cm cake tin, then pour the batter and smooth out. Place the apricot halves over the mix, cut side up, then sprinkle the crumble over the top. Bake on 175C for 45-55 minutes.
