Pantry Cooking and some News.

This won't be news to everyone, but Boyfriend and I are finally making the big step and moving in together.  Yeah, I know, this isn't really the shock-and-awe statement I'm sure you were expecting, but the only man I've ever lived with was my father and I had originally hoped it would stay that way until I was married.  This topic used to be a pretty huge deal to me.  So what changed?  Hmm... I'm older, theoretically wiser, and living in a fairly expensive city.  Oh.  And I love Boyfriend.  Can't forget about that little fact! We spend nearly every night together as it is, and I've finally decided that it would make a whole lot more sense for both of us for me to discard my silly inhibitions on living together so that we could start saving a little money.  We're not in our 20's anymore and having a savings account sure would be a nice change of pace.

So that was the news.  Do with it as you please.

And what does that have to with this post?  Well, in my super-nerdom, I've made a spreadsheet inventorying the contents of my pantry, fridge, and freezer.  My goal is to eat up as much of it as possible, as deliciously as possible, prior to the big move.  I've already got enough junk to haul up to our lovely 4th floor walk up, and boxes of pasta, 4 jars of Dijon mustard (what? I don't have a problem....not at all) needn't be part of it.

Best pantry meal of all time?  Pizza.  You can put ANYTHING on a pizza.  Hell, Todd English got famous off what was probably a late-night drunk/high concoction, now famously known at Olives as the Fig & Proscuitto Pizza. I can see it now:

TE: duuuude, I'm hammered, let's get pizza....
TE friend:  yeah, man... wait, you're a chef, why don't you make one, Mr. Chef-y Pants?
TE: Can't, all I've got is some fig jam... 
TE friend: and bacon....
TE and Friend: ...>mischievous smiles<.....

A legend was born! That's how it goes in my head anyway....

Sooo, yeah.  That's the long, mostly made-up story about how I decided to use what I had in my pantry to make a pizza for dinner.  Way more interesting than had I just started this post with, "So I made a pizza", right?

Dough: See here.

Sauce: In a saucepan, heat 1 small can of tomato paste, 1/4 C water, 2 chopped roma tomatoes, 1 tbsp sugar, a splash of red wine, chopped garlic, salt, and pepper... and cook until nice and thickened.

Toppings: Whatever you have.  I used chopped mushrooms, kalamata olives, onions, and some cooked Italian sausage (from my CSA meat share).

Cheese: Ricotta (see how to make your own, here) and a sprinkle of grated Parmesan. 

Bake on a pizza stone or cookie tray for 10-15min in a 425F or until the cheese is bubbly and the crust is nice and golden brown.

To plate: A sprinkle of red pepper flakes and basil makes it perfect.  A salad lets you pretend its good for you.

Not the most interesting of dinners, I'll admit.  But damn tasty nonetheless!  Continue checking the blog over the next couple of weeks as my pantry gets thinner and the meals are forced to become more... uhm, how you say... creative?