We have just got back from Wales and so it is catch up day today.
I try not to spend money for the week when I have forked out for petrol. I was putting the oven on to make bread and so I went through the fridge to see what I could cook with that needed eating up. There was some pastry that was out of date that I had been given, some out of date Greek yoghurt that had cost 20p at the Company shop, some past their best peppers, and some wizened apples. I also had some leek and courgette from the garden. I always have chorizo and cheese in the fridge, and tomato sauce and puree and so I took those out too.
I had some mozzarella that I had got reduced for 20p in the freezer, some brambles that I picked yesterday, and some raspberries that I saved from the bag I picked and froze earlier this morning. I therefore made a pizza, some savoury veg tarts, some compote and a couple of fruit pasties.
Whilst the mixer kneaded the bread I put the berries into the pan and peeled and grated in the apple. I then added 2 dessertspoons of sugar (dessert apples are sweet) and cooked. In a frying pan I sauted 1 inch of chorizo (cut small), leek and pepper and then added the courgette and cooked another minute. In a cup I added a big squirt of tomato puree, a smaller squirt of tomato sauce, 1 tsp of lazy garlic and some chilli (you can add mixed herbs instead). This made the base sauce for the tarts and the pizza. I rolled out a quarter of the pastry into a rectangle and cut it into 4 and then scored the tarts as shown in the picture. I put some sauce from the cup in the middle, put some of the chorizo veg mix on top and then topped them with grated cheese (I used 45g for 4 tarts). I then cooked them at 200⁰C for about 20 mins (until golden).
Whilst the tarts were cooking, I rolled out another quarter of the pastry and left the rest for another day. I took out some of the compote and put into a bowl and I added a tsp cornflour and then made a couple of pasties with the fruit and pastry, and cooked at 200⁰C for 25 mins until golden.
Whilst they were cooking I made the pizza base using using 142g of Greek yoghurt and 120g plain flour, 1 tsp olive oil and pinch salt. I mixed these and kneaded for a few minutes. I rolled the pizza base and placed on a tray, added the sauce on the top from the cup, placed on the rest of the chorizo and vegetable mix, put a few chorizo slices on top for Mr S, and then placed the mozzarella on top (it had nearly defrosted). I didn’t time this, as I was washing up, but it was about 20 mins in the same 200⁰C oven. In less than 90 minutes I had 2 loaves of bread, pizza, 4 savoury tarts, 2 fruit pasties and some compote to use in porridge and to have with custard this week.
We have cut the pizza in 4 and it will do us both 2 lunches next week. The tarts we had for lunch with home grown salad today. The pasties we will eat as dessert tonight and the compote we will have in porridge tomorrow and with custard as dessert on Thursday. The cheese, flour and the chorizo were the only things that were not discounted, free, foraged or from the garden. The rest was food waste. We have got 3 lunches, 2 desserts, and compote for breakfast porridge for probably less than a pound. My bread costs 59p for two loaves and will last us the week for lunches and breakfasts. People tell me I can’t possibly live on £700 a year food money. Oh yes I can, and this is how
