My friend Leigh recently sent me this link to a story on NPR about meals that can be prepared for under $10. I started reading the recipes with great enthusiasm, then slight confusion, then mild annoyance. Here's my beef (Get it? Food pun! I crack myself up!): while most of these dishes look like they would be a delightful and inexpensive way to feed 4 polite adults, all of whom would graciously accept small main-dish portions with no sides and no seconds, and murmur about how clever the cook is while secretly wondering how long they have to linger at the table before scurrying home to eat a more satisfying bowl of cereal, almost none of them will sufficiently feed a family of 2 adults and 2 growing boys at dinner time.
So here's the amended question: If you had $10, and had to feed your family a homemade dinner tonight with just what you could buy for that and the basics in your spice rack, what would you do? I spent WAY too much time this morning wandering around the grocery store pondering this very question, and came up with this:
Homemade pizza
2 packages fresh pizza dough ($2.19 each)
1 6oz can tomato paste ($0.50)
1 16 oz package shredded mozzarella (woo-hoo: this was on sale today for $2.00)
3 slices good salami from the deli counter ($1.00)
Package of Arugula ($3.99)
Total: $9.68 (not including tax)
Note: I didn't need to buy a lemon ($0.50) or garlic ($0.50) but checked the prices on them, just in case. Total with those, not including tax: $10.68.
Follow instructions on pizza dough for rising and rolling out.
For the kids' pizza: make a quick pizza sauce by putting the tomato paste in a small sauce pan, heating it over low heat, and slowly adding water until it gets to the right consistency (you'll know it when you see it). Taste - does it need a little salt or pepper, maybe oregano? Add it if so. Spread over pizza dough. Cover with mozzarella cheese. Finely chop the salami and sprinkle over pizza. (Or, using tiny cookie cutters, cut into fun shapes and spread over pizza).
For the adults' pizza: melt 2 tablespoons butter in a small sauce pan. Add 2 garlic cloves finely chopped. When the garlic has cooked just a bit, squeeze in the juice of half your lemon. Whisk in one more tablespoon of butter, and then brush over your pizza crust. Top with mozzarella cheese.
Bake both pizzas according to directions on your pizza dough package. While they are baking, make a quick vinaigrette of juice from your remaining half of the lemon, 3 tablespoons olive oil, salt and pepper. Toss with the arugula. Top the adults' pizza with the arugula as soon as it comes out of the oven.
Voila! A real dinner for 4, and you might even have leftovers for lunch tomorrow. Happy eating!
