The Cook's Book

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Five Weeknights

Serves
4
Dishes
5

Five dinners for a working week, none taking more than 50 minutes and most under 30. The shopping is done once, and the rice you cook on Thursday becomes Friday's fried rice, so nothing goes to waste.

Five Weeknights: Five dinners for a working week, none taking more than 50 minutes and most under 30.

On the menu

  1. Spaghetti Carbonara: Rome's four-ingredient classic, glossy and never scrambledMondaySpaghetti Carbonara

    25 minutes, start to finish. A green salad on the side if you like.

  2. TuesdayCrispy-Skin Chicken Thighs

    Mostly hands-off oven time. Serve with the salad leaves or a quick tray of vegetables roasted alongside.

  3. WednesdayTeriyaki Salmon

    With Perfect Rice (300 g rice).

  4. Dal Tadka: Creamy yellow lentils finished with sizzling spiced gheeThursdayDal Tadka

    With Perfect Rice: cook 700 g rice, 300 g for tonight and 400 g (about 1 kg cooked) to chill quickly for Friday.

  5. Egg Fried Rice: Separate, smoky, savory grains in under 15 minutesFridayEgg Fried RiceMake ×2

    Double quantity, using Thursday's chilled rice (about 1 kg cooked). Use it within 1 day of cooking.

To drink

A crisp, dry Italian white such as Verdicchio with the carbonara, and cold lager for the rest of the week. Non-alcoholic: sparkling water with lemon slices and a few crushed mint leaves.

The day before

  • At the weekend: do the single shop. Buy the salmon no more than 2 days before Wednesday, or freeze it and thaw it in the fridge from Tuesday morning.
  • Monday night: season the chicken thighs with the salt and leave them uncovered on a plate in the fridge for crisper skin.
  • Any night before Wednesday: mix the teriyaki sauce in a jar; it keeps 2 weeks in the fridge.
  • Thursday: spread the 400 g of extra cooked rice on a tray, cool it and refrigerate within 1 hour for Friday.

Game plan

Counted back from the moment you serve.

  1. Mon, 25 min before serving

    Put 4 liters water on to boil. Grate the cheeses, separate the eggs and cut the guanciale.

  2. Mon, 18 min before serving

    Start the guanciale in a cold pan (8 minutes). Whisk the eggs and cheese into a paste.

  3. Mon, 10 min before serving

    Spaghetti in (about 9 minutes). Toss with the pork, then with the egg mixture off the heat.

  4. Mon, serve

    Serve at once.

  5. Tue, 40 min before serving

    Oven to 200°C (400°F). Pat the thighs dry and season them if you did not do it the night before.

  6. Tue, 35 min before serving

    Lay the thighs skin side down in a cold, oiled ovenproof pan; cook over medium heat about 18 minutes until the skin is deep golden.

  7. Tue, 17 min before serving

    Pour off the fat, turn skin side up and roast about 12 minutes, to at least 74°C (165°F) by the bone.

  8. Tue, 5 min before serving

    Rest 5 minutes, uncovered; dress the salad.

  9. Wed, 30 min before serving

    Rinse and start the rice (12 minutes cooking, 10 minutes resting).

  10. Wed, 12 min before serving

    Flour and sear the salmon about 6 minutes, then glaze in the sauce 1–2 minutes.

  11. Wed, serve

    Serve over rice with sesame seeds and scallions.

  12. Thu, 50 min before serving

    Lentils on with turmeric, tomato, ginger and chili; simmer 30–40 minutes.

  13. Thu, 30 min before serving

    Rinse and start all 700 g of rice in a large pan.

  14. Thu, 8 min before serving

    Whisk and salt the dal; fry the tadka and pour it over. Spread 400 g (raw weight) of the rice on a tray to cool for Friday.

  15. Thu, serve

    Serve. Refrigerate the cooled rice within the hour.

  16. Fri, 15 min before serving

    Break up the cold rice; slice the scallions and garlic; beat the eggs. Cook in two batches (each about 6 minutes) unless your wok is very large.

  17. Fri, serve

    Serve straight from the wok.

Shopping list

Produce

  • 1 onion
  • 1 head garlic (8 cloves)
  • 20 g fresh ginger
  • 10 scallions
  • 1 tomato
  • 1 green chili
  • 1 lemon
  • 1 small bunch cilantro
  • 1 bag salad leaves (Monday and Tuesday)

Meat & fish

  • 150 g guanciale or thick-cut pancetta
  • 8 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
  • 4 salmon fillets (150–170 g each)

Dairy & eggs

  • 12 large eggs (4 of them for yolks only)
  • 40 g unsalted butter
  • 40 g ghee (or butter)
  • 20 g Parmigiano Reggiano (or a vegetarian hard cheese)
  • 60 g Pecorino Romano

Pantry

  • 400 g spaghetti
  • 1 kg long-grain white rice (basmati or jasmine)
  • 250 g split yellow lentils (toor dal) or split red lentils
  • all-purpose flour (1 tbsp)
  • sugar (1 tbsp)
  • 90 ml soy sauce
  • mirin (3 tbsp)
  • toasted sesame oil (2 tsp)
  • toasted sesame seeds (1 tsp)
  • Pantry check: neutral oil (sunflower or rapeseed), fine sea salt, black pepper

Spices

  • cumin seeds (1½ tsp)
  • ground turmeric (1 tsp)
  • Kashmiri chili powder
  • black mustard seeds (1 tsp)
  • asafoetida (optional)
  • dried red chilies (3)
  • ground white pepper

Frozen

  • 200 g frozen peas

Drinks

  • sake or dry sherry (2 tbsp)