Potato, pasta and rice dishes for every day

Mujaddara is a dish of lentils and rice cooked together and crowned with a big pile of deeply browned onions. It is cheap, filling and surprisingly rich in taste for such simple ingredients. Eat it…

Pasta al pomodoro is pasta in a simple tomato sauce with garlic, olive oil and basil. It is the base of Italian home cooking: once you can make this sauce, you can make dozens of others from it…

Spaghetti aglio, olio e peperoncino is pasta tossed with garlic gently fried in olive oil and a little chili. It is the dish to make when the cupboard is nearly empty, when you come home late, or…

Gratin dauphinois is thinly sliced potatoes baked slowly in milk and cream flavoured with garlic, until soft inside and golden on top. It is the classic side for a roast or a grilled steak, and with…

Kartoffelpuffer are German potato pancakes: grated raw potato and onion bound with egg and a little flour, fried flat in oil until crisp and brown. They are a cheap lunch or supper with apple sauce…

Egg fried rice is cold cooked rice stir-fried very hot with egg, spring onions and a little soy sauce. It is the best use for yesterday's rice and takes ten minutes. Add peas, leftover vegetables or…

Macaroni and cheese is short pasta in a creamy cheese sauce, baked until the top is crisp. It is pure comfort food for cold evenings and a reliable dish for children and big tables.

Risotto is rice cooked slowly in hot stock, stirred so its starch makes a creamy sauce, then finished with butter and cheese. With mushrooms, it is an autumn and winter favourite. It is not hard, but…

Pesto alla genovese is a raw green sauce of basil, pine nuts, garlic, cheese and olive oil. Tossed with pasta, it is a summer dish that needs no cooking apart from the pasta. In Genoa it is served…

Brandade de morue is salt cod beaten with warm olive oil, milk and garlic, then mixed with mashed potato into a soft, creamy purée. It is eaten warm on toast, or baked in a dish until golden on top…

Fish and chips is white fish, usually cod or haddock, dipped in batter and deep-fried, served with thick chips, salt, malt vinegar and often mushy peas. At home it takes a deep pot, a thermometer and…

Fishcakes are patties of flaked white fish and mashed potato, coated in breadcrumbs and fried until crisp. A pack of frozen pollock or coley and a few potatoes make eight of them, enough for four…

Pasta al tonno is spaghetti in a quick tomato sauce with canned tuna, garlic, capers and parsley. Everything in it keeps in the cupboard, it costs very little, and the sauce is ready in the time the…

This warm potato salad with smoked mackerel mixes sliced potatoes in a hot dressing of stock, vinegar, mustard and red onion with flakes of smoked fish and dill. Smoked mackerel is sold cooked and…

Ragù alla bolognese is a thick meat sauce, cooked slowly for hours, with only a little tomato. It is the real ancestor of what the world calls "spaghetti bolognese". In Bologna it is served with…

Carbonara is spaghetti coated in a creamy sauce made only from egg yolks, cheese, crisp pork and lots of black pepper. There is no cream: the creaminess comes from the eggs, the cheese and the pasta…