I really enjoyed Project Hail Mary, just couldn't put it down and it is similar enough to OP's prompt to recommend to them.
It's not a book but if you enjoyed Project Hail Mary you might enjoy For All Mankind on Apple TV. It has a similar vibe of engineers and tech driving the plot balanced with looking at the human costs of a rapidly advancing space program both on and off Earth
Sometimes I bulk out my shakshuka with another great pantry staple - lentils. And a little more involved for this thread but mujadara is another great dish that's primarily pantry ingredients plus onions. But I almost always have onions on hand and they keep so I give them a pass