Guide · Starter pantry
Twelve things. A pantry. A week of dinners.
A compact Italian pantry solves more weekday meals than a full fridge. Get these twelve staples, keep them cool and dark, and you'll cook better food in less time for about a month.
The twelve.
- 01
pasta
Bronze-die spaghetti
500g × 3
De Cecco № 12 in a hurry, Rustichella d'Abruzzo if you aren't. Takes sauce like carpet takes wine.
Search on Amazon UK → - 02
pasta
Penne rigate
500g × 2
Ridged penne for anything tomato-or-meat. Handy for baked dishes.
Search on Amazon UK → - 03
tomato
San Marzano DOP tinned
400g × 6
Dense, sweet, volcanic-soil tomatoes. Anything red starts here.
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olio
Finishing olive oil
500ml dark bottle
Sicilian or Umbrian, harvest-dated. Every bean stew ends with a spoonful.
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olio
Cooking olive oil
3–5L tin
Everyday EV for sautéing, roasting, sweating onions. Honest, not punchy.
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formaggio
Parmigiano Reggiano 24mo
250g wedge
Buy in wedges, grate as needed. Keep rinds for soups and stews.
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formaggio
Pecorino Romano
200g wedge
Real cheese for carbonara and cacio e pepe. Sharper, saltier. Don't substitute.
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umami
Salted anchovies / colatura
1 small jar
The secret behind half of Italy's pastas. Melt 2–3 into hot oil and garlic; silence follows.
Search on Amazon UK → - 09
legumi
Cannellini & borlotti
500g dried, each
Soak overnight, cook with bay and carrot, finish with good oil. Ribollita Sundays, pasta e fagioli Mondays.
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riso
Arborio or Carnaroli rice
1kg
Risotto. Carnaroli forgives; Arborio is fine once you have the rhythm.
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caffè
Espresso ground coffee
250g
Illy, Lavazza Oro, or a Neapolitan single-origin. For the moka, grind slightly coarser.
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sale
Sicilian sea salt
1kg bag
Cheap and excellent. Don't salt pasta water with flakes — you'll run out in three days.
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Honourable extras.
- A wheel of fresh bufala mozzarella on a Friday.
- A block of guanciale (or pancetta) in the freezer.
- A jar of sundried tomatoes in oil for panini emergencies.
- A bunch of lemons on the counter, replenished weekly.
- A 1kg bag of 00 flour for when you become the kind of person who makes pasta.
Storage — the week that actually matters.
-
Step 01
Pasta
Cool, dry, original packaging. Only decant to jars if they're airtight.
-
Step 02
Olive oil
Dark bottle, cool cupboard, never above the stove. Finishing oil within 12mo of harvest.
-
Step 03
Tinned tomatoes
Once open, decant to a glass jar. Fridge 5–7 days. Freeze the rest.
-
Step 04
Cheese
Wax paper, then loose foil. Never cling-film. Fridge, not freezer.
-
Step 05
Coffee
Airtight, cool, dark. Used within 3 weeks of grinding.
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