Spiced Pantry September 2016 Subscription Box Review + Coupon

Spiced Pantry is a monthly food subscription box that features a different foreign cuisine each month and then sends 4 items and 4 easy to follow recipes to help you prepare dishes using those ingredients. It is $19.00 a month (plus $3.75 shipping – currently US  only).  You may choose from the standard or vegetarian plan, and your subscription will renew monthly until you cancel. You can also gift a 1, 3, or 6 month plan which also renews after the original term so if you only want to send 1 (or 3 or 6) box(es) make sure to cancel before the next shipment.

Benvenuti in Sicilia!  How gorgeous is that mountainside village!?! One of these days I’ll actually make it to Sicily and see this in person.  While Sicily may be part of Italy, it is an autonomous region and the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.

Everything in the box.  I received 3 spice/herb packets, carnaroli rice, and 4 recipes.  Ingredients may include custom spice blends, unique grains, legumes, dried fruit, nuts, or other dry goods.  Spiced Pantry provides enough product so that you can make each provided recipe at least once, with extra spices so you can experiment with other recipes you may find on your own.  You can also visit the Spiced Pantry Pinterest page for recipe ideas.

The information card provides an introduction to the month’s cuisine, as well as notes on the ingredients included.

Recipes

Recipe card #1 – Sicilian Pasta with Sardines:  A well-loved Sicilian dish.  However, if you are not a fan of sardines, you can swap them out for chickpeas (vegetarian alternative).

Recipe card #2 – Sicilian Arancini:  These rice balls take a little more time to prepare.  They are crunchy on the outside and creamy on the inside – the perfect bite (and one of my personal favorites).

Recipe card #3 – Sicilian Orange Salad:  Serve this as a side dish or appetizer along with bread and cheese.

Recipe card #4 – Pasta alla Norma: This is a quick main course made with eggplant and tomato sauce.

Spices/Ingredients

Sicilian Bread Dipping Blend:  A classic blend of Sicilian spices.  Add 1 tbsp. to 1/4 c. of olive oil for dipping bread.  I received a 1.4 oz. bag; enough for multiple appetizer plates.

Calabrian Chile Flakes:  Common in Sicily, this bag contains premium dried pepper flakes from the Calabrian chile.  These peppers have a spicy, slightly fruity taste and are great on pizza and pasta.  This is a 0.65 oz. bag.

Ground Wild Fennel:  Fennel is a traditional ground herb used in many Sicilian dishes.  It has a slightly sweet flavor, with notes of anise.  Use this with pork, fish, or risotto dishes.  This is a 1.2 oz. bag.

Carnaroli Rice:  This is similar to arborio rice.  It is the preferred rice to use when making risotto and is sometimes referred to as the king or caviar of Italian rices.  It absorbs more liquid than arborio and makes a creamier risotto.

My Completed Dish

I love arancini, so I decided to try making them (plus, it was the one recipe that I had all of the ingredients for).  The hardest part of the recipe was NOT eating the risotto and actually letting it cool.  I modified the recipe slightly by leaving out the prosciutto and adding some herbs to the risotto.  There is a lot of prep time because you have to make risotto first, but the end result is so delicious that you forget how hard you worked.

This is a fun box if you’re looking to broaden your culinary horizons.  They provide more than enough spices to make the recipes at least 2 times.  Spiced Pantry makes it easy for you to have a taste of other cultures all from the convenience of your own kitchen.  Spice up your dinner menu and let me know what you think about this subscription.  If you haven’t tried it out yet, you can save 15% on your first month’s box with coupon code SPICED15.

Sign up by September 25th to receive the Morocco box.

Visit Spiced Pantry to subscribe or find out more!