Skip to content

Top Navigation

Cooking Light Cooking Light
  • Recipes
  • Cooking 101
  • Eating Smart
  • Healthy Living
  • News

Profile Menu

Your Account

Account

  • Email Preferences

Manage Your Subscription

  • All Access Subscribers
  • Magazine Subscribers
  • Cooking Light Diet Subscribers
Login
Logout
SUBSCRIBE
Pin FB

Explore Cooking Light

Cooking Light Cooking Light
  • Explore

    Explore

    • 31-Day Healthy Meal Plan

      Our 31-day calendar of meals and tips shows you how to cook more and love it with fun, family-friendly meals that come together quickly and deliciously. Read More
    • Dinner Tonight: Quick and Healthy Menus in 45 Minutes (or Less)

      Hundreds of delicious recipes, paired with simple sides, that can be on your table in 45 minutes or less. Read More
    • Our Favorite Healthy Air Fryer Recipes

      Who ever said that chicken wings, doughnuts, and pizza couldn't be healthy? Read More
  • Recipes

    Recipes

    See All Recipes
    • Breakfast & Brunch
    • Lunch
    • Dinner
    • Drinks
    • Recipe Makeovers
    • Quick & Healthy
    • Diabetic
    • Gluten-Free
    • Vegetarian
    • Cooking Light Live
  • Cooking 101

    Cooking 101

    See All Cooking 101
    • Essential Ingredients
    • Cooking Techniques
    • Meet the Chef
    • Cooking Resources
    • Budget Friendly
    • Smart Choices
  • Eating Smart
  • Healthy Living

    Healthy Living

    See All Healthy Living
    • Weight-Loss
    • Health
    • Fitness
    • Home
    • Travel
    • Nutrition 101
  • News

Profile Menu

Your Account

Account

  • Email Preferences

Manage Your Subscription

  • All Access Subscribers
  • Magazine Subscribers
  • Cooking Light Diet Subscribers
Login
Logout
Sweepstakes

Follow Us

  1. Home
  2. Recipes
  3. Italian Pantry Essentials

Italian Pantry Essentials

By Hannah Klinger December 11, 2015
Skip gallery slides
Pin
Credit: Photo: Iain Bagwell
High-quality ingredients are key to Italian cooking—the better your olive oil, tomatoes, and cheese, the better the food.
Start Slideshow

1 of 7

Pin
Facebook Tweet Email Send Text Message

Italian Pantry Essentials

Credit: Photo: Iain Bagwell

Italians ask for and eat only what's in season, and they eat a lot of it. Locals shop outdoor markets daily for the freshest produce or grow their own. Restaurants supplement entrées with plate after plate of contorno, or peak-season vegetable sides, depending on the time of year. But it's simple additions that really characterize this outstanding cuisine—what are very commonplace ingredients come together for extraordinary results. Learn which details lie at the heart of Italian cooking.

See More: Italian Vegetable Recipes

1 of 7

Advertisement
Advertisement

2 of 7

Pin
Facebook Tweet Email Send Text Message

1. Olive Oil

Credit: Photo: Iain Bagwell

Essential not just to Italian cooking, but to Italian life. I often call for a drizzle of good-quality olive oil to finish a dish—the flavor is so fresh and it just ties everything together.

2 of 7

3 of 7

Pin
Facebook Tweet Email Send Text Message

2. Legumes

Credit: Photo: Iain Bagwell

Many canned versions aren't overly salted now, and dried beans are so easy to cook. If you have chickpeas, onion or garlic, and tomato puree, you have a meal in hand.

3 of 7

Advertisement

4 of 7

Pin
Facebook Tweet Email Send Text Message

3. Canned Tomatoes

Credit: Photo: Iain Bagwell

When fresh aren't in season, look for good whole canned tomatoes like San Marzano or diced tomatoes packed in their own juices, not a heavy puree (these can taste tinny).

4 of 7

5 of 7

Pin
Facebook Tweet Email Send Text Message

4. Parmigiano-Reggiano Cheese

Credit: Photo: Iain Bagwell

I freeze leftover rinds for adding to soups and stews. You get a lot of flavor out of something most people would discard.

5 of 7

6 of 7

Pin
Facebook Tweet Email Send Text Message

5. Crushed Red Pepper

Credit: Photo: Iain Bagwell

The dried equivalent of the hot peppers found in my family home of Abruzzo, steeped in oil or delivered whole with a pair of scissors for snipping over dishes. I put them on everything.

6 of 7

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

7 of 7

Pin
Facebook Tweet Email Send Text Message

6. Anchovies

Credit: Photo: Iain Bagwell

You could probably get along without them, but why would you want to? Look for Spanish or Italian anchovies at gourmet stores, delis, or supermarkets.

7 of 7

Replay gallery

Share the Gallery

Pinterest Facebook

Up Next

By Hannah Klinger

    Share the Gallery

    Pinterest Facebook
    Advertisement
    Skip slide summaries

    Everything in This Slideshow

    Advertisement

    View All

    1 of 7 Italian Pantry Essentials
    2 of 7 1. Olive Oil
    3 of 7 2. Legumes
    4 of 7 3. Canned Tomatoes
    5 of 7 4. Parmigiano-Reggiano Cheese
    6 of 7 5. Crushed Red Pepper
    7 of 7 6. Anchovies

    Share & More

    Facebook Tweet Email Send Text Message
    Cooking Light

    Magazines & More

    Learn More

    • Customer Service this link opens in a new tab
    • Advertise
    • Content Licensing
    • Accolades this link opens in a new tab

    Connect

    MeredithCooking Light is part of the Allrecipes Food Group. © Copyright 2023 Meredith Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Cooking Light may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice. Privacy Policythis link opens in a new tab Terms of Servicethis link opens in a new tab Ad Choicesthis link opens in a new tab California Do Not Sellthis link opens a modal window Web Accessibilitythis link opens in a new tab
    © Copyright Cooking Light. All rights reserved. Printed from https://www.cookinglight.com

    View image

    Italian Pantry Essentials
    this link is to an external site that may or may not meet accessibility guidelines.