To prove this, all foods listed below were made from a stockpile of less than 15 ingredients, excluding salt and pepper.
Test these out. None of the recipes have more than a ?handful of steps.
Baked egg pasta
This is the ultimate fancy dish that looks like it needed more effort than it took to make. It’s hearty, warm and something that can be assembled in less than 30 minutes.
Ingredients:
1 box rigatoni pasta, about 2 cups dry
1 cup pasta sauce of your choice
1 red bell pepper chopped into centimeter-sized cubes
½ cup grated parmesan
Salt and pepper to taste
4-6 eggs depending on preference
Instructions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Boil pasta until al dente. The pasta should be firm but still have a bite. You want the pasta to still be a little hard so they can continue cooking in the oven and absorb the pasta sauce better. Drain.
3. Sauté the bell peppers until they are soft, about 3-4 minutes.
4. Mix the pasta, sauce, peppers and cheese in a bowl. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
5. Pour the mix into a greased baking dish. Make small wells into the surface of the pasta mix and crack the eggs into the holes. You want the egg yolks to settle into the top of the pasta bake. Sprinkle with cheese and more pepper.
6. Bake for 30 minutes. Time will vary depending on how runny you want your eggs. For those that like runny eggs, crack the yolk into the pasta and mix well. The yolk will create a creamy, tomato-based sauce.
Warm kale pasta salad
Bacon makes this dish. Take what would ordinarily be a light pasta salad and add another level of savory flavor.
Ingredients:
1 box vegetable rotini pasta
4 strips smoked bacon, raw
1 bunch kale, leaves removed from the stems, chopped into bite-size pieces
1 red bell pepper, chopped into centimeter-sized cubes
½ cup grated parmesan
4 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper to taste
Instructions:
1. Fry the bacon in a pan. Place the cold cuts of meat into a cool pan, then turn the heat to high. Once the bacon crisps, shrinking and curling into itself, remove the bacon from the pan. Pour the remaining bacon fat into a bowl. Wipe the edge of the pan down to prevent excess fat from smoking on the heat source. (This step can be omitted for vegetarians)
2. Using the residual bacon fat in the pan, or a small knob of butter, sauté the kale and bell pepper until the leaves soften and turn bright green. The bell pepper will soften in about 3-4 minutes. Pour the vegetables into a mixing bowl.
3. Boil the pasta until it is al dente, or slightly firm when cooked. Drain pasta and pour into the mixing bowl with the vegetables.
4. Take the bacon fat and pour three teaspoons of it into the pasta. This will be the oil in the salad dressing. Add in the cheese and balsamic vinegar. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve warm.
Kale fritters
Take the shape and texture of a crab cake and make this kale fritter for a veggie alternative.
Ingredients:
1 cup kale leaves, finely chopped
½ red bell pepper, minced
¼ cup grated parmesan
1 egg
4 heaping tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons butter
Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions:
1. Mix the egg and flour until you make a paste.
2. Add in the rest of the ingredients and mix until combined.
3. Heat the butter in a pan on high until it sizzles. Drop in dollops of batter, about 2 heaping tablespoons. Reduce heat to medium high. Using a spatula, flatten the batter until it makes a disk. This will make the cooking process faster and even.
4. When the bottoms turn golden brown, flip them. If the bottoms are browning faster than the fritter is cooking, take the fritter off the heat and put it on a plate. The residual heat will keep cooking it, or you can finish off the remainder of the cooking in the microwave for 30 seconds without burning the surface.
5. When both sides are golden brown, pull the fritters from the pan and put them on a paper towel-lined plate. Serve warm.
Berry clafoutis
Recipe inspired by “Basic Clafoutis” from Epicurious
This is a traditional French cake that has a texure very similar to a dense bread pudding. This is very easy to make. Just mix and bake.
Ingredients:
1 cup milk, any kind
3 eggs
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons butter, melted
½ cup all-purpose flour
Fruit of your choice. Berries or soft fruits work best.
Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Mix the egg, butter and sugar until combined. Then add in the flour until you get a paste.
3. Add in the milk gradually. The batter will become thin and, if the milk is added all at once, it will be hard to incorporate the liquid equally. Add the vanilla.
4. Take a greased, shallow baking dish and line the bottom with your fruit. Pour the batter on top slowly as to not disturb the fruit placement.
5. Bake 35 to 40 minutes until the center of the pan looks set. The batter will puff up and turn golden brown on the edges.
6. Cool at room temperature, serve warm.
Crêpes
Inspired by a recipe from Alto Brown
Another traditional French dish, this can be flexible based on what is used to fill it. This can go salty or sweet — just switch the vanilla out for a dash of salt and pepper. The fillings section allows for the recipe’s flexibility. Choose whatever sounds best to go inside.
Ingredients:
2 eggs
¾ cup milk
½ cup water
1 cup flour
3 tablespoons butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Excess butter for the pan
Toppings/fillings of your choice
A skewer
Instructions:
1. Mix the eggs, butter and flour until you make a paste.
2. Slowly add in the water and milk until the paste thins out into a liquid. Do this gradually or the batter will become uneven and hard to manage. Add in the vanilla.
3. Heat a pan on high with some butter. Spread the butter on the pan so it is evenly covered in liquid. Test a drop of batter to see if it sizzles. If it does, add a ½ cup of batter to the pan, rotating the pan constantly until it coats the pan in a thin layer. Reduce the heat to medium high.
4. Cook the crêpe until it looks like it has solidified. The surface of the batter will no longer be shiny. Take a skewer and loosen the edges of the crêpe from the pan. This will take a couple tries to do delicately.
5. Once the crêpe is loose from the pan, shake the pan back and forth to ensure that the surface will not stick. The crepe should move freely and almost sound dry on the bottom as it moves. At this point, for the brave, flip the crepe in the air by thrusting the pan upward. Or, take a spatula or the skewer and hold the crêpe while flipping it onto its other side. Let it cook 30 seconds more.
6. Drop the crepe into a plate when finished. Keep them flat to prevent creases. Serve with fruit, honey, chocolate or Nutella.
