What you should always have in your pantry and fridge.....

guido · Site Admin Joined: Oct 18, 2004 Posts: 390 Location: Italy

What you should always have in your pantry and fridge if you like italian food.

I was storing some of my grocery shopping and I came out with this little idea.
What are the thing that are always present in my kitchen?

In the pantry:
Canned tomatoes (peeled, chopped, pureed).
I just noticed I use different brands for different dishes, and often mix them together to reach the right acidity sweetness or consistency.
Don't be afraid to try many brands. sometimes, the most expensive, is not necessarily the best or the one you like.

Extra Virgin Olive oil.
This topic would need a whole book. I am rather picky about EVOO. For decent Italian cooking, you will need at least 3 different kind.
A delicate one, like Ligurian, or from Garda Lake region, with low acidity and fruity flavor, for salads, caprese salad, or fish dishes.
A medium acidity savory, and nutty for general cooking, like soups, sauteed dishes, and many pasta sauces: the best are from Tuscany, and Umbria region, or generally the central part of Italy.
Also if you like intense aromas and you like spicy cooking, you might want to have an extra virgin olive oil from Puglia or Sicily.
they get along with marinated spicy vegetables, like eggplants or zucchini alla "scapece" or goat or wild boar, and other game meat.
As usual nothing forbid you to mix them, to find the best taste for you.

Canned beans
Cannellini beans, borlotti beans, navy beans are always present.
You can prepare a super fast side dish with a can of cannelini, with some red onion and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.
Really a must have.

Canned tuna.
This is always in my pantry, but in this case, it must be the best quality u can find.
If you cant find any Italian brand, tuna from Portugal and Spain are a good choice too.

Canned broth,
Don't yell at me!. We have some good canned broth here in the shops, and sometime I do not have the time to make my own.
Of course I don't cook tortellini in it, but it's good for cooking other dishes, like risotto, or to cook vegetables in place of plain water:
much much tastier!

Spices:
Not many, but there are some staples:
Oregano, sage, nutmeg, saffron, and of course black and white pepper and red hot chili pepper.
I often use paprika, fennel seeds, marjoram thyme and cloves.

Pickled vegetables, like cipolline, bell peppers, giardiniera mix, ( a mix of pickled veggies) is always present.

And what about the fridge?
For sure, there is a real staple: Parmigiano Reggiano. Probably, beside a cappuccino, parmigiano reggiano goes everywhere in Italian cuisine.
I saying parmigiano reggiano or grana padano, and they have an authenticity logo: anything else is fake and no matter how cheap, it's NOT a deal. Parmigiano is not the only cheese.
Mozzarella, fontina, percorino romano are a constant in the grocery list.

I always have a piece of pancetta, we use it to give more flavor (and fat) to many dishes.
With same purpose, a jar of lard we use to deep fry mixed with seed oil
(sunflower, canola, corn). It really adds a kick.

Olives (both green and black) are also always present, but contrary of the US you will not find so many stuffed olives, just plain.

I like to make my own, but often there is no time for that, so a jar of mayonnaise is laying in the bottom right corner of the fridge, just in case you need it quickly.
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In vino veritas!

guido · Site Admin Joined: Oct 18, 2004 Posts: 390 Location: Italy

I forgot:
Tomatoes, onions, garlic, celery, carrots, parsley, and basil.
You cant live without if you are italian Smile

_________________
In vino veritas!

kerismummy · Posted: Sun Apr 17, 2011 9:06 pm Post subject:

In the UK, we're pretty much the same. I always have tinned tomatoes in my cupboard, tinned beans - usually kidney beans. Never tinned tuna though, yuk Guido!!!!!

Garlic is a herb(?) I ALWAYS have, and generally ham too
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I like cake. And pie. And mash. So sue me! Food is good and i'd rather be me and happy than skinny and miserable!