The Perfect Pantry®

Tomato sauce (Recipe: one-one-one spaghetti sauce)

First published in February 2008, this updated pantry ingredient post features new photos, links, and an important change to the recipe. I've been making a version of this sauce since my college days. Recently, I began adding one more "one" ingredient to make it even better, and eliminating one ingredient: the olive oil, which really isn't needed at all.

On the list of things without which my pantry feels incomplete, tomato sauce is somewhere in the middle.

I always have it, I always need it, I always use it. And yet, I'm not entirely sure what it is, and how it differs from the other canned, tubed, bottled, and boxed tomato products I always have, need, and use.

Right about now, you're probably adding up the number of tomato variations in your own pantry. Tomato paste? Chopped or diced tomatoes? Canned whole tomatoes? Maybe a jar or two of "emergency" prepared marinara sauce? Slow-roasted tomatoes in the freezer?

Recipe for Rhode Island weiner spice meatballs

The small market in my village surprises me on a regular basis, despite the fact that I shop there two or three times every week. On the day I found both a locally made habañero salsa and a spice mix used in the sauce for Rhode Island's famous New York System weiners, I knew I had to pair the two in a recipe. At first I'd planned to fold the salsa into the meatball mixture, but it buried the taste of the spices, so the salsa became the dipping sauce, and the weiner spices really shine in these meatballs. If you don't live in Rhode Island, you can make your own weiner spice mix. The key ingredient, celery salt, gives these meatballs a distinctly Ocean State flavor. The meatballs make a great appetizer, or you can toss them with pasta or serve on a pizza, as we did in our Rhode Island Recipes cookbook. Make a double batch and stash some in the freezer.

Slow cooker turkey breast recipe for sandwiches, salads and pasta

In a recent pantry clean-out, I unearthed a frozen "emergency" turkey breast I'd bought last November, in case I couldn't find a fresh turkey breast for Thanksgiving dinner. Six months later, I decided to defrost it and give it a go in the slow cooker. The goal: moist, flavorful turkey to slice and use for sandwiches and salads. The result? Spectacular success, and it couldn't be easier. In fact, the hardest thing about this recipe will be finding a boneless turkey breast. The solution: buy a bone-in turkey breast and ask the butcher to break it down for you. Save the bones and wings and make a soup stock (also in the slow cooker), and use the two breast halves in this recipe. I like this Greek seasoning from The Spice House; you can substitute with your favorite brand, or a mix of kosher salt, fresh black pepper, dried lemon peel and dried oregano. Use the cooked turkey in dozens of ways -- stuffed into sandwiches, chopped in salads, or shredded and tossed with pasta and vegetables.

Recipe for grilled Asian turkey breast with soy, garlic and chili paste

TRUE CONFESSION: I am that crazy woman who stands outside in the middle of winter in a coat and scarf and mittens, tending the grill on the back porch, at the mercy of the elements. The first time I made this Asian-flavored turkey breast, shot through with soy, garlic and my favorite chili paste, that was the scenario; in fact, it was snowing, which made the act of grilling heroic and the result worth every moment of frozen-fingered suffering. Now that the weather is warmer, I grill more often, and more comfortably. Put thoughts of the all-day Thanksgiving turkey out of your mind; boneless turkey breast cooks quickly. If you can't find a whole boneless turkey breast, buy a bone-in and ask the butcher to break it down for you (save the bones, wings and neck for stock). I use this garlicky, spicy turkey to add spark to sandwiches, summer rolls and pasta salads.