1. Leftover soup tips
When we make soup at home, we always freeze the leftovers in ice cube trays; when they're frozen you pop them out and into a plastic bag and they'll be there waiting when you get home from holiday, or late from work. Remember to cool your leftovers down quickly in the fridge, though.
2. Keep it simple
If you make things easier for yourself then your guests will feel more welcome - when they come over for dinner they don't want to see you tearing your hair out in the kitchen. You'll never go to an Italian person's house and be served show-off food - they'll cook food that they know well. So it's not really cheating to get a little help from a good delicatessen - get some cured meats and some olives and put them out for when people arrive. We wrap cured meat around breadsticks and serve them as part of the antipasti.
3. Think ahead
Make sure one course is coming from the oven: either a roast or some baked fish, or do a pasta al forno, which you can make the day before. If you do something like lasagne, you'll only need to make the bechamel topping and add some parmesan and put it in the oven. I always make my lasagnes a day or two early - a night in the fridge really intensifies the flavour.
4. Avoid ready-made sauces
Using fresh tomatoes is always best in sauces, but tomatoes are seasonal, and there's nothing wrong with using a ready-made passata. Just avoid ready-made sauces - none of them are any good and they're full of sugar. It's not difficult to make your own - just buy some tomatoes, olive oil and fresh basil and warm them up!
5. Shop every day
So often I go to people's houses and see a little bunch of basil suffocating in the fridge. We shouldn't shop once a week just so we can eat rubbish for five days. Your fridge should be empty every night, or at the very least, cook the fresh things in it, and put the finished dish in the fridge.
6. Cook too much
If you make fresh pasta, remember that it freezes brilliantly, including stuffed pasta. Make a kilo and freeze the extra in a single layer on a sheet of greaseproof paper for about six hours, then put it in a plastic bag (with a label telling you the date and what's in it!). Try and keep at least part of the freezer empty for this sort of thing - we always have a clear shelf in ours.
7. Don't buy flavoured oils
Avoid flavoured oils at any cost. They are absolutely pointless. Just get yourself some beautiful olive oil and chop up a couple of garlic cloves and add them to the bottle. Next day you will have garlic olive oil. Or you could use dried rosemary.
8. Use a slow cooker
Slow cookers are an excellent investment and very safe. You can make foolproof slow-cooked ragu in one. Put two kilos of minced beef, browned, two chopped carrots, a chopped celery stalk, two chopped onions, a bouquet garni, two cloves of garlic, a bottle of red wine, a litre of passata, five tablespoons of olive oil, a litre of water and some salt and pepper (this will serve eight) in the cooker first thing in the morning and then when you get home from work you'll have the best ragu.
9. Cheat with a lamb shank
Or you could put a shank of lamb in it, with some vegetables and cover it with water and you'll have fantastic meat, vegetables and a perfect stock for risotto.
10. Use a meat thermometer
The other thing I strongly recommend is a meat thermometer. My wife, Plaxy, was a bit sniffy about it to start with, but now she uses it, too, and it's just the most straightforward way to make sure your meat is perfect every time.
