The Store Cupboard Hall of Fame
by Joanna Weinberg, author of Cooking for Real Life If you can cook inventively from your stores, you will never have to endure the head-clutching panic of what to make for supper again. Whether that’s an almost instant bowl of chickpeas and feta tossed in a lemony dressing, or bowl of pasta with bacon, chilli and shavings of Parmesan, the possibilities are endless. But it all depends on stocking your shelves well. Here are six long-lasting kitchen heroes I couldn’t live without. Bacon Bacon – and its relations pancetta, lardons and chorizo – is about as useful an ingredient to have in the fridge as you can imagine. Good old bacon rashers are the most flexible, whether in a sandwich, with eggs, laid across game, chopped into pasta, mince, lentils or soups – in fact almost anything will be improved by a hit of salty pork. Scatter a simple cauliflower cheese with lightly fried lardons and breadcrumbs before giving it a last blast under the grill and you have a feast in itself; finely chop it along with your onions as the base of risotto and you can dispense with stock. Parmesan What I find most interesting about Parmesan is that it works on two levels: as an ingredient, and also as a seasoning. Grated, it functions as the latter, most obviously on top of pasta and risotto dishes, but it will sing, particularly in salads in the form of larger curls and shavings. It lasts a long time well wrapped in the fridge, but for long-lasting, instant access, keep it grated in a tub in the freezer and help yourself to it directly from there. Here’s a great salad to throw together for lunch: using rocket leaves as your base, generously scatter with chickpeas, leftover roast chicken or butternut, avocado and pumpkin seeds, and top with shaved Parmesan. Dress olive oil beaten with lemon juice and dijon mustard and flaky salt. Dijon If I had to choose any processed ingredient to celebrate, Dijon mustard would be top of my list. It’s smoothness and rounded flavour make it the perfect choice to use as the base for salad dressings and mayonnaise, but no stew or Bolognese in my house gets away without a dollop of it, and neither a roast beef nor a ham nor a Gruyere sandwich would be the same without it. Anchovies Anchovies punch well above their weight, packing loads of flavour into each tiny fillet. When fried, they disintegrate, leaving behind a vibrant smack of umami. Cheer up limp old broccoli by chopping it very finely and frying it very slowly, half covered, in olive oil with plenty of chopped anchovy, chilli and garlic, until you have a soft, scented mass to toss through a bowl of pasta. Top with plenty of Parmesan, of course.