My Pantry Essentials

Let’s talk about my pantry essentials! Those ingredients that help us create delicious dishes whether they are cooked, baked or just thrown together in a matter of seconds. Did you know that a well-stocked pantry is the key to efficient cooking?

All those useful seasonings, condiments and food items are a must for me and they are almost always to be found in our pantry. Well, by pantry I really mean our kitchen and fridge because that’s all we have at the moment!

What about you? Do you have one? If so, what does it look like? What do you keep in there? What are your MUST HAVE items? What do you use the most? Let me know!

Here is a list of MY pantry essentials:

SPICES & HERBS:

• Dried Oregano
• Black Pepper
• Salt
• Ground Sweet Paprika
• Caraway Seeds
• Ground Cinnamon
• Bay Leaves
• Chili Flakes
• 5 Spice Powder
• Thyme

Oregano is a must herb to have when making pizza sauce! I won’t write about black pepper because everyone knows it and uses it, right? If you are after freshness buy pepper corns and grind them yourself. If you are after convenience – then pre-ground is the way to go. As for the ground sweet paprika – I add it to soups and stews. Ground cinnamon is a great spice. You can add it anywhere, really – cakes, breakfast bowls, tea. Chill flakes are great anywhere where you need to add a bit of heat. I love penne pasta, with olive oil, parmesan and chili flakes! 5 Spice powder is a combination of spices. I use it in baking mostly. Thyme is an excellent herb when making focaccia or beef wellington. Caraway seeds are great in various dishes and also when making bread.

CONDIMENTS:

• Ketchup
• Mustard
• Horseradish
• Soy Sauce
• Jam
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Sunflower Oil
• White Wine Vinegar
• Balsamic Vinegar

I bet most of you love and use ketchup. I make dips and sauces with it! When it comes to mustard we love English mustard (that is also available in stores in Spain, yay) but the number one mustard is Estonian strong or “kange” mustard. OMG! It’s the best of the best! Every time we get to spend a few days over there the first thing we buy is the mustard! The same goes for horseradish! Estonian horseradish is the best I’ve tasted so far! Soy sauce is a must for dipping your sushi in and for any Asian dishes. Jam – now try to make homemade jam – you won’t be disappointed! Extra virgin olive oil is another essential pantry staple! We love it and hence we use it a lot.

CANNED & JARRED FOOD ITEMS:

• Tuna
• Tomatoes
• Cannelloni Beans
• Caper Berries

Canned tuna is great for pasta, spread or salads. Plum/chopped tomatoes are other essential pantry staple. Use them to make pasta sauces or soups, e.g. Minestrone). I use Cannelloni beans in soups, salads or stews. Caper berries are larger than capers. They are perfect on pizzas or in tomato based sauces.

FRESH PRODUCE:

• Onions
• Potatoes
• Tomatoes
• Garlic
• Avocados
• Carrots
• Celery
• Ginger
• Lemons
• Oranges
• Beets
• Arugula
• Fresh Basil & Parsley
• + Other Seasonal Fruit & Vegetables

Onions, potatoes, tomatoes, garlic, avocados, carrots and lemons are always to be found in our kitchen. We have a small trolley with 3 baskets/trays where we keep most of our fruits and vegetables (if they don’t need to be stored in the fridge, that is). Arugula/Rocket is our favorite leafy vegetable. We eat it a lot. Fresh basil and parsley are also very important ingredients. We normally buy a bunch of fresh parsley at our local market (see 12 kilometers away – that we reach by bikes –and by bikes I don’t mean motorbikes or electric bikes J). I put it in a jar filled with water and it stays relatively fresh for up to 5 days. As for basil – I’ve been growing my own! It’s a great herb and it’s the only one that seems to have no problem growing in my back garden.

BAKING:

• Plain (All-Purpose) Flour
• Baking Powder
• Baking Soda
• Fresh/Dry Yeast
• Sugar (Brown, Icing, Caster, Vanilla Flavored)
• Honey
• Cocoa Powder

Plain flour is the basic ingredient for baking. I have it on hand all the time! The same goes for baking powder, baking soda, sugar and cocoa powder – essential pantry staples for bakers! When it comes to yeast I don’t have a preference here but lately I’ve been using the fresh version more often for 2 reasons. It’s very reasonably priced and more importantly I know where to find it in my local supermarket – unlike the dry yeast – truth be told, I haven’t come across it yet. I usually get a “few” sachets when I am back home in Slovakia and they keep me going for a while!

FRIDGE:

• Milk
• Eggs
• Unsalted Butter
• Cheese
• Sour Cream
• Dark Chocolate

Milk, eggs, butter, sour cream and cheese… When it comes to cheese there is always at least 3 types of cheese in the fridge (gouda, parmesan & feta). As for the chocolate, I use it in baking and have to keep it in the fridge because of tiny ants that love to “visit” us unannounced from time to time.

FREEZER:

• Fruit & Vegetables
• Meat
• Pizza Dough
• Homemade Chicken Stock
• Bread

Our freezer is usually quite empty. We only store a few items in there. Sometimes I buy large loaf of bread and put half of it in the freezer if I know we wouldn’t eat all of it. Sometimes I also freeze fresh carrots and celery cut into cubes. This is only when I see that we have bought too much. There are not many items we actually get from the frozen section in the supermarket. Actually, a bag of frozen peas is at the moment the only thing. Frozen peas are really tasty and good in soups, stews or as a side dish. When I make homemade pizza I usually freeze half of the dough. It is really convenient, whenever you are stuck for time, you just take it out of your freezer, let it defrost (takes 10 min), roll out, top, bake and enjoy! Our tap water tastes funny so I prefer adding homemade stock into stews, soups and paella and that is why I keep some in the freezer. Shop-bought frozen fruit is not cheap in Spain so what I often do is I buy fresh seasonal fruit that is way cheaper and I rinse it and freeze it. I use it in baking or making smoothies. If there is some meat on offer in the supermarket I sometimes buy more and freeze it.

OTHER BITS & PIECES:

• Tomato Puree
• Dried Wild Mushrooms
• Chickpeas
• Rice
• Pasta (Spaghetti, Penne, Tagliatelle)
• Buckwheat
• Rolled Oats
• Seeds & Nuts
• Dried Fruits
• Olives

Chickpeas are one of the most versatile and protein packed pantry staples! Hummus, soups, salads, stews – you can make anything with it. Wild mushroom foraging is a tradition in my family so we are always well stocked with these (unless there is a bad year without enough rain for them to grow). Buckwheat, rolled oats, linseeds, chia seed, nuts and dried fruits are in the healthy corner of our cupboard. Pasta is a must! I can’t live without pasta! As for the olives – we buy olives at our local market and we buy a lot. We just love them and eat them every day!

OK, so this is it! These are our essential pantry staples that we can’t live without! What are yours?