Month: May 2013

“Life is a combination of magic and pasta.”

— Frederico Fellini

In PCG I mentioned how a spaghetti facsimile could be created using ramen noodles and tomato cup-of-soup:

As an example, if you want to make a spaghetti meal, then choose ramen+pepperoni slices+tomato soup mix+dash of Italian seasoning+grated Parmesan cheese+group b.

Tomato instant soup mix has largely disappeared from the shelves here in the USA. I experimented in making my own by starting with canned tomato paste and spreading on a fruit-rollup sheet in my food dehydrator, about 1/4 inch thickness.

After drying at low heat for a few hours, peeling the “tomato rollup” and flipping and drying some more, I could still detect moisture trapped in the middle, so I cut into strips and dried some more.

Finally, after a few hours, the strips reached the level of crispness that allowed pulverizing in a powerful blender.

One could add potato flakes as an anti-caking agent, but I did not need to since the powder would be added to other ingredients right away.

Prepare in quart freezer zip bag:
1/2 teaspoon onion powder (not onion salt)
1/4 teaspoon seasoned pepper
1/4 cup skim milk powder
1 package ramen, crushed, without the flavor packet
1/4 cup tomato powder
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/4 teaspoon Italian seasoning (adjust amount to taste)
(pinch of garlic powder)
2 tablespoons dried parsley flakes
(1 small one-ounce packet pepperoni slices)
(1 generous squirt of olive oil for valuable hiker calories)

To prepare on the trail, boil 1 1/4 cup of water, pour into bag, close bag, mush bag until mixture is more-or-less uniform, and rehydrate for five minutes until the noodles are ready. If using the optional pepperoni packet, add now. Eat from the bag for a no-clean meal.

(Sometimes I need to write up these recipes so I can remember just what I did, for the next big trip.)

Related Posts:

• Protein Carbohydrate Goulash
• Enchies for the Trail