Today I am going to talk to you about some recipes that, during the period of the decree for the Coronavirus and considering a shopping done every ten days, I made starting from leftovers, surpluses or long-term products.

They are easy and very quick recipes, but above all cheap, which are often unique dishes, but there are also cakes or recipes with very few ingredients.
If you want to take a cue with a view to greater savings, here are the recipes.

MY CHEAP RECIPES TO SAVE MONEY

First courses and unique dishes.

Spaghetti alla marinara.

To make these spaghetti you will need a 112 gram tin of tuna in oil or well drained mackerel, canned natural artichoke hearts, capers, parsley, black olives and diced tomato pulp. For 4 people, cook 500 grams of tomato pulp with half a clove of garlic and a teaspoon of oil, if you want dry chilli, for 15 minutes. Add a generous spoonful of pickled capers,

5 natural artichoke hearts cut into slices, a dozen black or green olives cut into rounds and cook for another 8 minutes. Finally, the tuna or mackerel well drained and mashed with a fork and the fresh parsley, cooking for another 2-3 minutes. Separately, drain 280 grams of spaghetti al dente (for 4 people) and toss with the sauce.

Pea cream

It is a very simple dish to make, with very few ingredients.
For 4 people consider 500 grams of frozen spring peas, half an onion, a generous teaspoon of corn or wheat starch, a glass of skim milk and 100 ml of UHT cream, parsley, salt, pepper and nutmeg.

Boil the peas in water for twenty minutes, drain and pass them in a non-stick pan with a tablespoon of water and the onion. Salt and pepper.

Separately, when cold, dissolve the cornstarch in a glass of water. Pour it over the peas, add the milk and cook, stirring for about 10 minutes. With a hand blender, make a puree of peas. Pour the cream over it, stir, cook for half a minute, enrich with nutmeg and parsley, turn off and serve hot with slices of toasted wholemeal bread and a spoonful of Greek yogurt (optional).

You can make the same recipe with sweet corn (same weight): in this case, skip the part where it is boiled and go directly to sauté with the onion.

Mexican salad

For this recipe you will need about 200 grams of sweet corn, 180 grams of red beans or beans of your choice, half a red or yellow pepper, a red onion, a dozen olives, paprika or dried chilli, oil.

Cut the vegetables into small pieces, pour them raw in a bowl with a teaspoon of oil and apple or wine vinegar, add the olives, legumes and corn. Mix everything and the dish is ready. It can be personalized with meat in jelly or two hard-boiled eggs in wedges or natural tuna or a chopped salad tomato.

Bread pie, peppers and courgettes

Separately, take 100 grams (about 5 generous spoons) of breadcrumbs or 150 grams of stale bread then soaked and squeezed well and put it in a bowl. Pour over an egg, two egg whites, two tablespoons of grated parmesan, 100 grams of defatted cooked ham or turkey breast in chunks or strips, and in the case of breadcrumbs about a glass and a half of water, in the case of stale bread only one couple of spoons.

Add some parsley or chopped basil, salt and pepper. Take a round or square dish. Put the vegetables in the bread bowl (not hot) and mix quickly. Pour the mixture into the pan, level well, put in the oven for half an hour at 180 °. Let it cool a little before taking it out of the mold. To combine with raw vegetables or salads.