Spicy Sausage Pizza with Salami and Peas

This was concocted from a consolidation of the remaining edibles in our fridge. This is what happened when you don't have the time to do grocery shopping and cannot afford the luxury or convenience of local takeouts. Thank goodness we still had cheese and some frozen inventory. I didn't make this though.. leaving the task to my resident sous chef. I admit that I (the resident head chef) occasionally get tired of trying to create tasty food from a constrained inventory. :p


Serves 2

Ingredients:
2 hotdogs (sliced)
1/4 cup frozen peas
1 cup cheddar (or mozzarella) cheese
4 slices shaved salami (torn roughly)
2 tablespoons tomato puree
1 sheet frozen puff pastry
1 tablespoon chilli powder (omit or adjust to preference)

Preparation:

• Preheat oven to 220 degrees.
• Brush canola oil on baking tray.
• Use knife to create 2cm slits around pastry edges.
• Spread tomato puree on puff pastry.
• Scatter and sprinkle ingredients evenly over puff pastry.

Cooking:
Bake pizza in oven for 13 minutes.

Tricolour Sushi Bread

I made this at a time when I wanted to introduce some creativity while cutting down the time I take to prepare a sushi bento.


The ingredients and rolling method were the same as Tomato Spam Sushi. The only difference was that I had used salami slices and white bread in place of hotdog and seasoned rice. From the feedback I received, the texture and taste were refreshingly light and savory, so I considered it success personally.

Spinach Spaghetti Carbonara

I was looking for a quick Italian meal.. after I got really famished from watching the Jdrama - Bambino. A quick search on Closet Cooking's blog landed me on this fantastic Carbonara recipe. I had to modify it a little due to the availibility of ingredients in my fridge. Nonetheless, the taste was great and the meal was demolished as fast as it was cooked. :p

Serves 2

Ingredients:
100 gram baby spinach
2 servings of spaghetti
2 hotgdog franfurkter (diced)
3-4 slices of hot shaved salami (torn roughly into smaller pieces)
2 tablespoons parsley (chopped finely)
2 garlic (chopped finely)
olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Sauce:
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
2 tablespoons thickened cream
2 egg yolks


Cooking:

• Cook spaghetti in salted boiling water until al dente.
• Mix sauce thoroughly in a bowl.
• Set metal pan on moderately high heat.
• Fry diced sausages in olive oil for about 2 minutes.
• Add salami slices and fry until crisp.
• Remove sausage and salami from heat and set aside.
• Use the oil from sausages to saute spinach with garlic for 2 minutes.
• Add spaghetti, cheese and parsley.
• Combine ingredients thouroughly with tongs.
• Season with salt and pepper.
• Remove from heat and toss spaghetti with the prepared sauce.
• Top with crispy sausage and salami and serve.
  

I really liked this meal. It tasted great even though simple ingredients were used. I didn't use the water from spaghetti (as recommended by Closet Cooking) because the spinach provided enough moisture. We used to pay good money (about $30 for 2) for this when we were dinning out in the mid-range restaurants (of Singapore). And they either come with overcooked pasta and overly thickened or watery sauce. I think this home-cooked Carbonara was better than what I have had outside and I'm now inspired to try more at home in future.. Time to cut down on paying good money for sub-standard food. (:

Cheesy Salami Pizza

Domino's Toni Pepperoni on puff pastry is definitely one of my top favourite/comfort food in Australia. While I have tried other pizzas from its menu, I haven't ordered anything else eversince I have tasted its Toni on Puff. Yes, it is THAT sensational... for a junkie like me. I actually have secret cravings for it once in a while.. which makes it logical for me to try to make it at home.

No online ordering or picking up required. Just simple ingredients and easy preparation. Et viola! It's pretty good, really.

Serves 2

Ingredients:
1 frozen puff pastry sheet
hot shaved salami slices (quartered)
shredded cheddar cheese
tomato pasta sauce (according to preference)
dried chilli flakes (optional)
canola or olive oil

Preparation:

• Preheat oven at 220 degrees for 10 minutes.
• Rub 1 tablespoon of oil evenly onto baking tray.
• Place puff pastry onto tray and use a fork to poke some holes.
• Spread tomato pasta sauce, then add salami slices over surface.
• Sprinkle cheese and chilli flakes over salami evenly.

Cooking:
Pop pastry tray into oven and bake for 15 minutes. Serve hot.

**Optional:

1. Dried chilli flakes
2. Pepperoni to replace salami
3. Mozzarella cheese to replace cheddar
4. Plain tomato puree to replace tomato pasta sauce (I used chunky vegetable pasta sauce for this)