Five Dinners from Ten Jars: Batch Thinking for a Pantry, with the Shopping List
A pantry is only as good as the dinners it makes when the refrigerator is empty and it is seven o'clock. Ours has 1,900 things on it, and this piece is about ten of them: specific jars and tins that keep for months, that cost about what a week of takeout does, and that, with eggs, an onion, a lemon and bread from any grocery, make five weeknight dinners that are five different meals rather than one meal with the labels swapped. The starter pantry is the longer list; this is the working subset, with the dinners it exists for.
The ten
- A pound of dried white beans, cannellini or a Royal Corona.
- Two tins of whole peeled tomatoes.
- A tin of oil-packed anchovies.
- A tin of oil-packed tuna, ventresca if the budget allows.
- A jar of cooked chickpeas, or a pound dried.
- A jar of matbucha.
- A jar of harissa.
- A pound of dried pasta, a long shape.
- A bottle of extra virgin olive oil.
- A bottle of Mushroom Garum.
From the grocery, four things: a dozen eggs, two onions, two lemons, a loaf of bread. From the cupboard, salt, chile flakes, garlic, and whatever herbs are alive on the windowsill.
The five
| Dinner | Beans | Tomatoes | Anchovies | Tuna | Chickpeas | Matbucha | Harissa | Pasta | Oil | Garum |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Brothy beans with garum | x | x | x | |||||||
| 2. Shakshuka from the jar | x | x | x | |||||||
| 3. Pasta with anchovy, garlic and chile | x | x | x | |||||||
| 4. Tuna and white bean salad | x | x | x | x | ||||||
| 5. Chickpea and harissa stew | x | x | x | x | x |
Every jar is used at least once; the oil is in all five; nothing is opened for a single spoonful.
The order, so nothing is wasted
Sunday: cook the beans. The whole pound, per the brothy beans recipe: onion and garlic browned in oil, beans, bay, water, salt from the start, the barest simmer for ninety minutes at sea level or longer in Denver, a spoon of garum near the end, a teaspoon of sherry vinegar if you have it. Eat half tonight in bowls with grilled bread and a thread of oil. Refrigerate the rest in their broth; they improve.
Monday: pasta with anchovy, garlic and chile. Warm four tablespoons of oil in a wide pan with four sliced garlic cloves, four anchovy fillets and a pinch of chile flakes over medium-low heat until the anchovies dissolve and the garlic is pale gold. Cook the pasta per the method, drain wet, toss in the pan with a cup of the cooking water until glossy. Lemon zest, parsley if there is any, more oil. Twelve minutes. The anchovy tin, half used, goes in a small jar under oil in the refrigerator.
Tuesday: shakshuka. The jar of matbucha warmed in a skillet with a spoon of harissa and a splash of water, four eggs cracked into wells, the lid on for five minutes, per the shakshuka recipe. Bread for the yolks. Ten minutes.
Wednesday: tuna and white bean salad. The rest of the beans, drained of most of their broth, in a bowl with the tin of tuna flaked with its oil, half a thinly sliced onion soaked ten minutes in cold water to tame it, the remaining anchovies chopped, the juice of a lemon, a good pour of olive oil, black pepper, and whatever herb is around. Toss and let it sit fifteen minutes. Bread, or toast rubbed with garlic. No cooking. This is the Tuscan fagioli e tonno and it is better than it sounds by a wide margin.
Thursday: chickpea and harissa stew. An onion softened in oil with garlic, a tablespoon of harissa bloomed for thirty seconds, the two tins of tomatoes crushed by hand, the chickpeas with their liquid, a cup of water, a spoon of garum, salt. Simmer twenty minutes until thick. Finish with lemon and a thread of oil, and, if there are eggs left, crack two in for the last five minutes with the lid on. Bread. Twenty-five minutes.
Why it works
The ten were chosen by function rather than by favorite. Two proteins that keep for years (beans, chickpeas) and two that keep in a tin (anchovies, tuna). One base that is body (tomatoes) and one that is body already cooked (matbucha). Two sources of depth (anchovies, garum) and one of heat and spice (harissa). One starch (pasta) and one fat (oil). Between them they cover salt, acid with the lemon, fat, umami, heat and body, which is the whole diagnostic in a shopping bag. Swap freely along the same lines: lentils for chickpeas, sardines for tuna, chermoula for harissa, a jar of pesto for the anchovy sauce.
The cost, roughly
The ten jars from our shelf, at the prices on the product pages, come to about what two people spend on takeout in a week, and the beans, chickpeas, pasta and oil last well past the five dinners. Eggs, onions, lemons and bread are a ten-dollar errand. That is five dinners for two at a modest cost per plate from ingredients that would be at home in a restaurant, which is the argument for a pantry in one sentence.
The beans, tomatoes, anchovies, tuna, chickpeas, matbucha, harissa, pasta, oil and garum are at 263 Josephine Street in Cherry Creek, Denver, and ship nationwide from theambrosianpantry.com. Buy the ten, cook the beans on Sunday, and the week takes care of itself.
