During the current pandemic, a lot of people have been using this time to refine their cooking skills and tackle day-long recipes to create the most extravagant of meals. That said, the focus of this article is on quick, easy meals for when there’s not that much enthusiasm for cooking – don’t worry, the recipes are still tasty and exciting, despite the limited effort required. If you’re getting bored of the same meals, try out these quick and cheap dishes.
What about when you don’t want to cook?
However, before we get into the recipes, it’s worth noting that there will inevitably be some days when you can’t be bothered to cook in the slightest. For those days, you can always get great Italian food delivered, or if restrictions permit where you live, go out for some great food. There are a lot of options, but when looking around, don’t forget to snoop for some great deals and discounts to save on your food, such as these Olive Garden Coupons. However, this might just inspire you to get cooking anyway.
Onto the recipes!
Sausage Cassoulet
This is a sensational and easy Mediterranean inspired dish that will blow your mind. First, simply start by frying some sausages in a pan, around two per person, and fry until they’re almost done. You can use vegetarian sausages as well.
Then, add some chopped red onions and garlic and fry until they’re nice and caramelized. Add an extra special touch to your meal by using garlic grown in your own garden!
Once they are, add a can of chopped tomatoes. From here, you can add more ingredients to the concoction, such as kidney beans or cannellini beans, chorizo, or even a vegetable stock cube to add to the flavor.
Cook that for a while, adding a bit of salt, pepper, and mixed Italian herbs. Then throw in some torn bits of firm bread – good options are ciabatta or sourdough – and drizzle some olive oil and more seasoning over the dish, before putting it in the oven.
Take it out after a short ten minutes, season again, and there you have it: a delicious sausage cassoulet.
Butternut Squash Tagliatelle
If you thought the previous recipe was still a little bit too much, then this meal is perfect. All you have to do is simply roast a butternut squash in the oven, seasoned with black pepper and salt.
Once that’s done, just mash it with a fork and mix it with cooked pasta. That’s it. It doesn’t even have to be tagliatelle, but it probably goes best with that, and to make it even more authentically you can cook the pasta al dente to add a slight crunch.
Home Made Pizza
There’s nothing more Italian than pizza, and making it at home can be really rewarding and extremely easy, as long as you cheat a bit.
It’s always better to make your own dough from scratch, but for the purposes of time and energy, store-bought pizza dough works just fine.
Start by rolling out the dough, making sure to cover the surface with flour so that it doesn’t stick. It’s easier to roll into a square, but you can always try a circle to get that authentic shape.
Once the dough is thin enough (no more than half a centimeter), cover the dough with tomato passata sauce or BBQ sauce. This will form your base.
From here, you can add what you like for the toppings, such as pepperoni, chicken, peppers, mushrooms, chilies, sweetcorn, ham, even pineapple – it’s your pizza, so you can put whatever you want on it. Make sure to top with cheese – grated mozzarella or cheddar works best – and cook in the oven until crispy.
Just like that, you have a tasty, home-made, and delicious pizza that’s personalized to your own tastes.
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