The Pantry

 Gone are the days when I could run to the grocery store in the afternoon to pick up a couple of things for dinner.  We are getting our groceries delivered weekly, something I've been doing for some time, however now it is the only game in town.

I'm relying on my pantry more than ever, and I spend so much time staring at it and going through it, it's practically being worshipped.

This pantry is one of my favourite things about our kitchen.  It's an original built-in cupboard, with the original brass hardware.  It has the benefit of not being messed with for the last 150 years, maybe just a paint touch-up now and then.

 I have collections of glass jars, some from my friend Ginarello who kindly gave me some old mason jars from her Nonna's kitchen.  I've purchased Weck jars over the years, I have old Maille mustard jars, old jam jars, and some Kindler jars in varying sizes.

All of my pantry dried goods are stored in the glass-front portion of the pantry: beans, granola, dried fruits, nuts and seeds and some baking spices.

 I buy vanilla at Costco in a giant plastic bottle and then transfer it to this glass bottle with a stopper:

Vanilla stored in a glass stopper bottle.

 I keep a Diptyque spray in a spicy Ginger scent in the pantry as well, just to give the kitchen a lift when I'm cleaning.

Ginger spray by Diptyque.

 Of course there are always packages to store in any kitchen, these I pile in the bottom section of the pantry to conceal them.

You can see we love pasta.

 So what are my best pantry recipes during these stay-home days?

During the last week I've cooked red lentils to serve with rice and vegetables.  I like to saute whatever spice I'm using in olive oil or butter, along with garlic and onions.  Add the red lentils, some vegetable stock or seasoned water (water with herbamare salt or simply salt and pepper), and simmer for about half an hour.  This dish is really good served over rice and with lots of crispy kale sprinkled over the whole thing.

Another dish from the past week involved green lentils, and this is something I cook quite often, inspired by my favourite Jamie Oliver vegetarian pasta.  It is so simple: saute spices, garlic, chopped celery and carrots in butter or olive oil, add your green lentils and vegetable stock or seasoned water, simmer, and then towards the end add some tomatoes from your pantry.  The tomatoes could be a bottle of passata (pureed tomatoes) or a can of diced tomatoes.  Simmer, add some brandy or marsala wine, be sure to season with salt and pepper, and voila delicious, serve over pasta of choice.

On Friday night I cooked a delicious risotto with roasted vegetables (butternut squash in this case) and served it  covered in roasted pumpkin seeds.  That was probably my favourite meal of the last week, served with a big green salad and a roast chicken for the meat-eaters.

Never has dinner, or the pantry, been more important than during this time when we need to be at home and the comforts of home become most precious to us.

How are you doing in your kitchen during this time?  Are you finding meals a challenge?  Are you cooking simple pantry meals?
xoxDani