Nothing in the fridge?

Dinners from the Pantry

15 chef recipes from what's in the cupboard

Open the fridge: nothing. Open the pantry: pasta, rice, a few tins, flour and eggs. That's dinner. Here are 15 chef recipes from my book that only need what's already in the cupboard, each with 5 easy variations.

By Chef Aurélie, professional chef

1 Aglio e Olio

Italy's midnight pasta: spaghetti, garlic, olive oil, chilli. Four things you always have, ten minutes, and the starchy pasta water turns the oil into a silky sauce.

Make it your way:

Anchovy & crumbs: 4 anchovies melted in the oil; pangrattato on top (recipe 10)
Lemon & parmesan: Zest + juice of 1 lemon, 40 g parmesan, lots of pepper
Broccoli & chilli: 1 cup small broccoli florets or frozen peas, in with the pasta
Prawns: 200 g frozen prawns, thawed, cooked in the garlic oil
Crispy fried egg: An egg fried until the edges are crispy, on top

Full recipe in Book 1

2 Carbonara, the Real One

Rome's carbonara has no cream: eggs, cheese, black pepper and crispy pork. The sauce is cooked by the heat of the pasta, off the stove.

Make it your way:

Bacon carbonara: Smoked bacon: the outside-Italy version
Zucchini: 2 zucchini, diced and fried golden, no pork
Mushroom & thyme: 250 g mushrooms fried with thyme, no pork
Salmon & peas: Peas in the pasta water; 100 g smoked salmon
Leek & gruyère: 2 leeks softened in butter; gruyère for the pecorino

Full recipe in Book 1

3 Salmon Spaghetti

Salmon, cream and a splash of white wine: a creamy pasta that tastes like a restaurant dish, ready in the time the spaghetti cooks. Linguine works too.

Make it your way:

Tuna & lemon: Canned tuna in oil for the salmon; no cream, lemon juice off the heat
Puttanesca: No cream: 400 g canned tomatoes, olives, capers, anchovies
Salmon & spinach: A big handful of spinach wilted in the cream
Tuna pasta salad: Cold pasta, canned tuna, cherry tomatoes, olives, boiled egg
Sardines & crumbs: Canned sardines, no cream; raisins, pine nuts

Full recipe in Book 1

4 One-Pot Creamy Pasta

Everything in one pan, pasta included. It cooks in just enough stock and milk, and its starch makes the sauce creamy. One pan to wash.

Make it your way:

Mushroom & garlic: 250 g sliced mushrooms, fried with the onion
Pea, ham & parmesan: 1 cup frozen peas + 100 g diced ham
Spinach & ricotta: 2 handfuls of spinach; ricotta dotted on top
Rosé: 400 g canned tomatoes in place of the milk
Penne primavera: Broccoli, capsicum, carrot, zucchini; lemon zest

Full recipe in Book 1

5 Pasta Bake (Gratin de Pâtes)

French family food: pasta in a cheesy white sauce, baked until the top is crisp. Perfect for leftover pasta, and it reheats beautifully.

Make it your way:

Mac & cheese: Elbows; 3 cheeses + American mustard; roasted capsicum
Jambon-fromage: Coquillettes or macaroni + 150 g diced ham
Tuna & sweetcorn: 1 can of tuna + 1 cup of corn in the sauce
Tomato & mozzarella: Tomato sauce instead of the white sauce
Broccoli & cheddar: 2 cups small broccoli florets, cooked with the pasta

Full recipe in Book 1

6 Riz Pilaf

The French chef's way to cook rice: grains coated in butter before the stock goes in, so they come out fluffy and separate, never sticky. Every rice dish starts here.

Make it your way:

Mexican red rice: Jasmine rice fried, then cooked in 2 tomatoes, ½ onion and 1 garlic clove, blended
Coconut rice: Jasmine rice; half the stock replaced by coconut milk; no onion
Golden rice: 1 tsp turmeric or a pinch of saffron in the stock
Mushroom pilaf: 200 g sliced mushrooms fried with the onion, thyme
Mujaddara: Half rice, half brown lentils (boiled 15 min first); 1 tsp cumin

Full recipe in Book 1

7 Chef's Crispy-Bottom Rice

How I always cook my rice: a mix of the Persian way and Afghan Kabuli rice. Fluffy long grains, saffron raisins and a golden, crispy bottom.

Make it your way:

Persian potato crust: Thin potato slices in the hot oil until they just start to colour, then the rice
Cumin rice: 1 tsp cumin seeds between the layers
Golden rice: ½ tsp turmeric (curcuma) in the water: yellow, with taste
Dill rice for fish: 2 tbsp dried dill between the layers; no raisins
Carrot & raisin: 1 carrot in thin strips, fried with a pinch of sugar

Full recipe in Book 1

8 Pantry Risotto

Rice, stock, an onion and cheese: risotto is a pantry dish. Twenty minutes of stirring, and the starch from the rice makes its own creamy sauce. No cream needed.

Make it your way:

Mushroom: 250 g mushrooms fried golden, or 20 g dried porcini soaked (use the water in the stock)
Pea, lemon & mint: 2 cups frozen peas; zest of 1 lemon; mint at the end
Prawn & asparagus: 200 g prawns + a bunch of asparagus in pieces; fish or chicken stock
Oven-baked, no stir: All the stock at once; covered, 25 min at 180 °C / 350 °F
Alla milanese: A pinch of saffron in the stock; extra parmesan

Full recipe in Book 1

9 The Egg & Rice Bowl

Hot rice, a crispy fried egg and whatever's in the fridge, with a soy and sesame dressing. Break the yolk into the rice: that's the sauce.

Make it your way:

Bibimbap-style: 1 tbsp gochujang in the dressing; add fried mince or mushrooms
Tamago-don: Simmer onion in soy, water and sugar; pour beaten egg over, lid on 1 min
Mexican bowl: No soy dressing: black beans, salsa, corn, avocado
Tuna poke-style: Canned tuna, cucumber, avocado; soft-boiled egg
Egg congee: Simmer 1 cup rice in 1 L stock with ginger, 30 min; beat an egg in at the end

Full recipe in Book 1

10 Riz au Lait

French grandmother's rice pudding: rice slowly cooked in vanilla milk until thick and creamy. A cup of rice and a litre of milk, and dessert is sorted for days.

Make it your way:

Arroz con leche: A cinnamon stick and a strip of lemon peel in the milk
Coconut & mango: Half the milk replaced by coconut milk
Chocolate: 80 g dark chocolate stirred in with the sugar
Salted caramel: Caramelise 60 g sugar, add 60 ml cream + a pinch of salt; swirl in
Baked rice pudding: Everything in a buttered dish, 2 hours at 150 °C / 300 °F

Full recipe in Book 1

11 Cake Salé

France's picnic and apéritif favourite: a savoury loaf studded with whatever is in the fridge. The classic is ham and olive. Slice it warm, cold, or in cubes with a drink.

Make it your way:

Tuna & tomato: 1 can of tuna, sun-dried tomatoes, basil
My zucchini loaf: 1 zucchini, cubed and pan-fried with a shallot; torn basil, halved olives
Chorizo & capsicum: Diced chorizo, roasted capsicum, paprika
Bacon, onion & gruyère: Bacon and onion, fried together first
Apéritif bites: Any filling, in a mini-muffin tin

Full recipe in Book 1

12 No-Yeast Flatbread

No bread in the house? Flour and yogurt, no yeast, no waiting: soft, blistered flatbreads in 25 minutes, straight from a dry pan.

Make it your way:

Garlic-butter naan: Brush with butter melted with garlic and parsley
15-minute pizza base: Roll into 2 rounds; cook one side, top the cooked side
Za'atar bread: Brush with oil + 2 tbsp za'atar before cooking side 2
Soft wraps: Roll thinner, 1 min per side; keep in a tea towel
Cheese-stuffed: Fold grated cheese inside before rolling

Full recipe in Book 1

13 Pantry Corn Fritters

One of my favourites: one can of corn and the basics become crispy, golden fritters in 25 minutes.

Make it your way:

Mexican: Chopped jalapeño, ½ tsp cumin, coriander
Chickpea: Half the corn swapped for mashed canned chickpeas; cumin, lemon zest
Bacon & corn: Crispy bacon bits in the batter
Fridge veg: Half the corn swapped for grated zucchini or carrot, squeezed dry
Asian-style: 1 tsp soy sauce, grated ginger, chilli

Full recipe in Book 1

14 Gâteau au Yaourt

The first cake every French child bakes: no scales, the empty yogurt pot is the measuring cup. Soft, light and impossible to get wrong.

Make it your way:

Lemon drizzle: Zest of 2 lemons in the batter
Chocolate marble: Mix 2 tbsp cocoa into a third of the batter; swirl
Apple: Dice 2 apples, cook in a pan with a little sugar and cinnamon, cool, then fold into the batter: extremely moist. Lazier: toss raw diced apple in flour, shake off the excess, fold in
Banana: 2 mashed ripe bananas; 1 pot less sugar
Upside-down: Canned pineapple or pear, in the buttered tin first

Full recipe in Book 1

15 Clafoutis

A dessert from the Limousin: fruit baked in a sweet, custardy crêpe batter. Frozen or canned fruit works just as well as fresh.

Make it your way:

Pear & chocolate: Canned pears, drained, in slices
Apple & cinnamon: 2 apples, sliced, fried in butter 5 min
Frozen berries: 500 g mixed frozen berries
Apricot & almond: Canned apricot halves, drained
Savoury clafoutis: Cherry tomatoes, feta, basil; no sugar or vanilla

Full recipe in Book 1