If you want to save food and money, and eat handsomely while doing so, you need to think like an Italian. From using Parmesan rinds in broth to throwing leftovers in a risotto and pickling pretty much everything, Italy is a rich source of recipes and culinary traditions we can all learn from when it comes to being thrifty in the kitchen. Read on for genius tips for making ingredients stretch further, knowing when to splash out on premium produce (and when to show restraint), smart ideas for leftovers, and practical suggestions for not just reducing food waste but generating a veritable feast from what might seem like nothing.

The traditional dishes and techniques that form the base of cucina povera (‘the kitchen of the poor’) are central to the mindset of many Italian cooks. The philosophy itself originated out of necessity from Italy’s rural peasant populations; staple cucina povera recipes place emphasis on cooking frugally, utilising ingredients to their fullest, eschewing the likes of meat and dairy and yet still eating very well – think hearty, warm broths rich with aromatics, filling pasta dishes, potato and polenta–based meals, and plenty of seasonal fruit and vegetables.

At its core, there’s a simplicity about the Italian cuisine that demands top-quality produce. While this may sound counter-intuitive in terms of saving money, these first-rate ingredients are used with the utmost care and attention, with nothing going to waste. They also often impart a far superior flavour than their cheaper counterparts, meaning you need less of the ingredient to make a significant impact; for example, a drizzle of aged balsamic vinegar or a few drops of silky, premium olive oil can have transformative powers over a dish.

This commitment to using top-quality produce allows the Italian cook to create delicious dishes with very few ingredients, ensuring that even when the pantry seems bare, a meal can be made. The likes of simple plates of pasta, such as three-ingredient cacio e pepe and spaghetti aglio e olio (spaghetti with garlic and olive oil), are perfect examples here.

You’ll never spot an Italian cook chucking bread away – stale or otherwise. Instead, leftover bread is used to make all manner of meals. It might be toasted and topped with fresh tomatoes, basil, a hint of garlic and olive oil for a classic bruschetta, or turned into panzanella, the quintessential Tuscan salad that sees oven-dried bread combined with ripe tomatoes, salty, briny capers, olives, basil, red wine vinegar and copious amounts of olive oil. Alternatively, it could be blitzed to crumbs, fried until crisp and used as ‘poor man’s Parmesan’.

Don’t fancy salad or bruschetta? That’s still no excuse for not making the most of your stale bread. Use it to whip up punchy, deliciously refreshing gazpacho in the summer or, come winter, tear into pieces and add to a bubbling pan of country-style soup. Thick and tangy pappa al pomodoro (tomato and bread soup) or ribollita (more on this classic peasant dish later) are both fantastic, frugal dishes. 

A well-stocked store cupboard allows the Italian cook to produce hearty meals with ease. If you’re serious about reducing food waste and cooking the Italian way, one of the first steps is to fill your pantry with dried pulses (like beans, chickpeas and lentils), canned fish (think good-quality anchovies and tuna), chilli flakes, capers, olive oil, top-notch pasta and tinned tomatoes. That way, you’ll always have the base of a thrifty yet tasty meal at your fingertips.

A wedge of proper Parmesan doesn’t come cheap, which is why the thrifty Italian cook ensures that they get the very most from it. The cheese is almost always finely grated or shaved, meaning it stretches further, and there’s a certain amount of restraint involved; typically only a teaspoon or two will be scattered over a dish as a garnish. The Parmesan rind is also never discarded. Instead, it’s added to simmering stocks and soups to impart depth of flavour, and is also often used to thicken sauces.

How many times have you scoured your kitchen shelves only to be confronted by numerous packets of different types of pasta, with a small amount left in each? Instead of despairing (or throwing said pasta away), the answer here is to embrace the Napoli-born idea of pasta mista, which refers to a blend of leftover pasta shapes from pasta factories, all sold together. Create your own pasta mista by combining your pasta odds and ends (all shapes and sizes welcome) and using them to make a cheesy bake or filling broth.

A surplus of cooked pasta is a happy accident when you cook the Italian way. Should you find yourself with too much spaghetti, frittata di spaghetti (spaghetti omelette) is the way to go. To make yours, combine 4 beaten eggs with around 50g (2oz) Parmesan, season well and add 400g (14oz). Set a pan with 3 tbsp olive oil over a medium-high heat, add the frittata mixture and cook for 4-5 minutes, until almost set. Transfer to a hot grill and cook for 3 minutes more. Leave to cool for 5 minutes, then cut into wedges to serve.

If you’re lucky enough to be confronted with an excess of risotto, there’s absolutely no reason to let it go to waste. Instead, do as an Italian nonna would and make oozy, gooey, crispy, crunchy arancini. Scoop that leftover risotto into golf ball-sized rounds, stuffing a small piece of mozzarella into the centre of each. Dredge the balls in flour, followed by beaten egg and finally breadcrumbs, then chill in the fridge to firm up. When you’re ready to eat, fry the risotto balls in hot oil for 8-10 minutes, until golden on the outside and piping hot in the middle. 

Savvy Italians will often quite literally save their food. That might mean planning ahead and keeping the seeds from a particularly good batch of tomatoes, taking the time to wash and dry them and then plant ready for next year. The same grow-your-own principle is applied to repotting herbs like rosemary, basil, oregano and thyme, all of which can thrive in small spaces, with minimal care and attention.  

While pesto alla Genovese made with basil, olive oil, pine nuts, Parmigiano Reggiano and pecorino might be considered the most authentic pesto of all, there are (typically cheaper) alternatives. If your fridge is filled with vegetable scraps (think broccoli, kale and cavolo nero) or you’ve got a surplus of walnuts, pistachios or hazelnuts, these ingredients should certainly be subbed in and used to make a riff on the classic sauce, rather than going to waste.

Once you’ve made that batch of fresh pesto, don’t let it go to waste – it can be used in numerous dishes. Combining pesto with pasta is the obvious move, but you can also stir it through soups just before serving, spread onto freshly toasted bread, drizzle over roasted vegetables or boiled potatoes, loosen with a little more olive oil to make a salad dressing or dip, or use as a marinade for chicken and fish – the list really does go on. 

A wonderfully simple and versatile vehicle for an excess of vegetables, there are no set rules for making minestrone – it’s all about conjuring up something hearty, wholesome and healthy to eat from what might seem like very little. In short, when there’s a pan of minestrone made from sautéed vegetables simmered in water or stock and bulked out with potatoes, beans, rice or broken pasta pieces (or a combination of all four), no one will go hungry – and nothing will go to waste.

A staple of Tuscan peasant cooking, ribollita – which translates as ‘boiled again’ – is as nourishing a dish as they come. When saving food is the overall aim, you can approach your ribollita making in a couple of different ways. Traditionally, the soup was made at the end of week from a combination of stale bread and vegetable scraps. The broth would then be reheated over the coming days (hence the name), with the flavour intensifying over time. Alternatively, make minestrone one day, then add stale bread to the mix to turn it into ribollita – and gift yourself another filling meal.

Pickling is an age-old means of preserving fruit and vegetables in order to prevent food from going to waste, and sottaceti (literally translated as ‘under vinegar’) is the tried-and-tested Italian approach. Next time you find yourself with a surplas of carrots, celery, peppers, cauliflower, cucumbers, courgettes, green beans and the like, get busy pickling. Giardiniera is probably the most famous type of sottaceti, with the piquant pickled vegetables making a fantastic addition to an antipasti spread – see the next slide for instructions on how to make your own.

First prep your vegetables by cutting them into equal-sized strips or florets, aiming for around 500g (18oz) total weight. Combine 500ml (17fl oz) water and 1 litre (34fl oz) white wine vinegar in a pan with a generous handful of aromatics (bay leaves, cloves, black peppercorns and juniper berries all work well), 3 tbsp fine salt and 2 tbsp granulated sugar. Heat until the salt and sugar dissolve. Take off the heat, add the vegetables and leave for 1 minute. Remove the veg from the hot liquid and leave both to cool completely. Tightly pack the vegetables into sterilised jars, then pour the brine over the top. Seal the jars, leave at room temperature for 24 hours, then transfer to the fridge for up to 3 months.

Sottoli is another commendable way to not just save food but provide edible bounty for the future. Translating to ‘under oil’, it refers to the Pugliese practice of cooking or marinating a glut of in-season vegetables (think artichokes, aubergines, pumpkins, peppers and chillies), then storing them in jars covered with oil. Not only does this preserve the shelf life of the vegetables, it intensifies their flavour, too. 

Having taken the time to make a Bolognese, any Italian cook worth their salt will ensure that the sauce forms the base of several meals. So, while it will be served the classic way on day one (typically with tagliatelle, rather than spaghetti), leftovers will then be combined with other ingredients in order to add interest and make the dish stretch further. That might mean making a tortellini Bolognese pasta pie, whipping up a dish of pasta alla Montecarlo (beef ragu with fresh cream and basil pesto), or preparing pasta alla pastora (Bolognese mixed with peas, ham, cream and onions).

A brilliant example of taking leftovers to a whole new and delicious level, the idea for frico was born in the 15th century in the north-east region of Friuli, and is still popular today. In this clever dish, cheese scraps or rinds remaining from making wheels of the mountain cheese montasio are fried in a butter-brushed pan with mashed potatoes and sometimes onions, to make a filling, crispy and crunchy omelette-like pie. If that appeals, Parmesan rinds or pieces of aged Cheddar both make excellent substitutes for traditional montasio.

The concept of lesso rifatto (‘boiled meat’) once again taps into the Italian mentality of planning ahead and transforming leftovers into something new. Traditionally the dish would be prepared on a Monday, utilising meat remaining from weekend feasting (beef leftover from a Sunday roast would work perfectly here). There are numerous iterations of the budget-friendly dish, so you can feel free to take the idea and make it your own, but the simplest recipes suggest sweating sliced onions, carrot and celery in a pan until softened, then adding the thinly sliced cooked meat before covering with broth and simmering until tender.

Whether chocolate salame has its origins in Italy or Portugal might be contested, but what’s certainly not up for debate is just how tasty this traditional dessert is (and what a brilliant receptacle for packets of half-finished biscuits and cookies it makes). Here said biscuits are broken up into pieces, then combined with melted butter and chocolate, cocoa and sometimes sweet wine or rum (dried fruit or nuts could also be added, should they need using up). The mix is then formed into that famous salami-shape, before being chilled ready to be sliced as you would a cured sausage.

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