Sarah Di Lorenzo’s basic four-ingredient recipes (2024)

As supermarket staff face a daily race to restock the empty shelves, you may have found yourself unable to buy some of the basics like pasta.

But it’s not as difficult as you might think to make your own at home - and there’s every chance you’ll already have the ingredients in your cupboard.

See more in the video above

Stream Sunrise free on 7plus

Find all of Sarah’s recipes as featured on this week’s Weekend Sunrise below.

Two-Ingredient Pasta

Ingredients:

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 4 large eggs (800g) or 5 small eggs (600g)

Method:

1. Place the flour in a mound on a large clean surface, kitchen table or bench is great.
2. Create a centre in the mound of flour. Add the cracked eggs to the centre.
3. With your fingers break the egg yolks and bring in the flour from the sides gradually.
4. Continue to blend the flour into the eggs until the flour has been absorbed. Now that it’s a ball of dough with your palms knead it for about 5 minutes. If your dough seems a little dry then add a tiny splash of water. Next, cover the dough ball tightly with glad wrap and refrigerate for a minimum 30 minutes but no more than 12 hours.
5. Once you have rested the dough in the fridge cut the dough into 4 equal pieces. Put a towel over the dough to stop it from drying out.
6. Prepare your work surface with flour. Get your rolling pin and roll 1 ball of dough at a time into a large thin sheet and as thin as possible. Now that is has been rolled out, gently fold it over itself several times and cut into strips with a thickness depending on what kind of pasta you are making. Dust some flour over the strips then loosen them and voila - there is your pasta ! Continue this process with the other 3 balls under the towel.
7. Set cut pasta aside on a tray and leave out at room temperature to cook or cover and place in the fridge to be cooked later.

How to Cook Fresh Pasta:

Add a litre of water to a pot over a medium heat and salt the water. When the water is boiling add the fresh pasta and cook for 2 -3 minutes or until it looks tender, you will notice that the pasta floats to the top of the pot when it is ready. Strain and serve.

How to Store Fresh Pasta:

Your pasta will last 3 to 4 days in the fridge and a month in the freezer.

Note: Healthy alternatives for all-purpose flour include almond flour, coconut flour, quinoa flour and brown rice flour.

For an amazing meal add Sarah’s tomato sauce - you can find the recipe here.

Zucchini Slice

Ingredients:

• 6 eggs
• 1 cup grated zucchini
• ½ cup self-raising flour
• 1 cup grated cheddar cheese

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180°C.
2. Line a 20 x 30cm baking tray with baking paper.
3. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, add the remaining ingredients and season with salt and pepper to your personal taste. For more flavour you can add a level tablespoon of chicken or vegetable stock powder.
4. Pour the contents into the prepared tray and bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown.
5. Allow to cool slightly, then serve s with healthy garden salad or salad of choice.

Note: You can add carrot, capsicum, garlic and onion to this recipe if you have them available.

Sarah’s San Choi Bau

Ingredients:

• 500 grams of a mix of pork and veal mince. (you can use what ever mince you like)
• 4 tablespoons hoisin sauce
• 1 red capsicum
• Iceberg lettuce - cos lettuce will work as well.

Method:

1. Cook the mince in a non-stick frying pan over a medium heat until separated and brown.
2. Add the capsicum, season with cracked pepper and sea salt to your personal taste. Add the hoisin sauce, reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Let the mince cool.
3. Gently separate the lettuce leaves so they remain intact and cut them to resemble bowls, add the cooled mince mixture. Ready to serve.

Optional: You can really add whatever vegetables you like to mince mix as well as onion and garlic.

Sarah’s Crunchy Peanut Butter Cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of crunchy peanut butter
• Pinch of sea salt

Method:

• Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Line baking tray with baking paper.
• Using a tablespoon as your measurer make balls of mix and then place on the baking paper.
• You can store these yummy cookies in a container that is airtight.

Sarah’s Healthy Twist on Hoisin Sauce

Peanut butter might be another ingredient that you don’t associate with hoisin sauce. But it can make a tasty sauce when combined with a few other ingredients. The best benefit is there is no artificial flavour enhancers making it even more delicious and healthy!

Ingredients:

• 4 tablespoons of Tamari sauce (or soy)
• 2 tablespoons of smooth peanut butter
• 1/4 teaspoon of chilli powder
• 2 tablespoons of sesame oil
• 2 tablespoons of white vinegar
• 1 tablespoon of honey
• Pinch of black pepper
• 1 crushed clove of garlic

Method:

1. Mix all the ingredients in a bowl to form a paste ready to add to the sauce pan.

Sarah’s Healthy Twist - Oat Flour

For a healthy alternative to flour, you can use oat flour that is so easy to make on your own. Simply blitz the oats in a food processor to a fine powder.

Oat flour does not rise the same way that wheat flour does so you need more baking powder.

For 1/2 cup of oat flour you will need 1 & 1/4 teaspoons of baking powder.

For more delicious recipe ideas, click here.