I'm a day late on Frugal Feasts. My apologies; although I doubt you guys have been eagerly waiting for its arrival.
I wanted to offer another vegetarian recipe because eating a few meatless meals each week is a definite way to be more frugal. I grabbed Mollie Katzen's latest book, "Get Cooking," off the shelf. It is a good primer for the person in your life learning to cook. Her recipes give very explicit basic instructions for the newbie in the kitchen.
I chose the recipe for Broccoli-Cheddar Cheese Calzones because Food Lion, Harris Teeter and Kroger have frozen vegetables on sale this week for about $1 per 7 to 10-ounce bag. At all the stores, the prices come out to be between 10 cents and 14 cents an ounce. The brands are store brands to Green Giant. So while you are stocking up on frozen veggies, you can grab some frozen pizza or bread dough and make an easy meal out of this recipe. (I love Trader Joe's pizza dough. It sells for $1 a bag and freezes well for easy homemade pizza on a weeknight.) This meal costs $1.56 per serving.
Broccoli-Cheddar Cheese Calzones
1 tablespoons cornmeal or unbleached all-purpose flour
Vegatable oil spray or a drizzle of oil on the work surface
1 pound store-bought pizza dough, cut into quarters
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup minced red or yellow onion
2 heaping cups chopped broccoli (see Note)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3/4 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese
Adjust the oven rack to the center position and preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Sprinkle the cornmeal or flour onto a baking tray, and spread it into a thin layer.
Lightly spray a work surface with vegetable oil spray or coat with 1/2 teaspoon of olive oil. One at a time, place each of the four pieces of dough on the prepared work surface and use your fingers to press and stretch into 7-inch rounds that are about a 1/4-inch thick. If the dough wants to shrink back on you, let it rest for about 10 minutes and try again. Once you have stretched out all four dough rounds, let them rest while you proceed with the filling.
Place a large skillet over medium heat. After about a minute, add the remaining olive oil and swirl to coat the pan. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 3 minutes until it begins to soften.
Stir in the broccoli and salt and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 8 minutes, or until the onion is golden and the broccoli is tender but not mushy. Remove the pan from the heat and let vegetables cool for about five minutes. (NOTE: To use frozen broccoli, I would cook the broccoli per the package instructions instead and then continue. You will need 16 ounces of broccoli.) Then add the pepper and the cheese, and stir until well combined.
Divide the filling into four equal portions. Place a portion of the filling on each of the dough rounds, keeping the filling to one side of the round and leaving a 1-inch edge. Uer your fingers or a pastry brush to lightly moisten the edge of the round with a little water.
Carefully fold the unfilled half of the dough over the filling, and then press the edges tightly closed all around with a fork.
Transfer the filled calzones to the prepared baking tray. Put the tray in the oven and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the calzones are golden brown all over. Serve them hot from the oven.
Makes 4 servings.
Cost breakdown
I'm going to assume you have flour, salt, pepper and oil in your home. That really doesn't leave much to buy at the store!
Store-bought pizza dough, $4.99 for 32 ounces, Cost for meal: $2.50
Yellow onion, 62 cents for one, Cost for meal: 31 cents
Broccoli, $1 for 9 ounces, Cost for meal: $2
Cheddar cheese, $4.29 for 16 ounces, Cost for meal: $1.43
Cost for meal: $6.24
Cost per serving: $1.56
