Tips and Recipes for Cooking with 5 Ingredients or Less

Delicious recipes that are easy to make for your family
by Esther Sung, Epicurious
Five or fewer ingredients is all it takes to make a really delicious dish. It's true! That's good news for anyone who has to cook for a group of hungry people and doesn't want to spend a lot of time-or money-doing it. Whether it's a weekday family dinner or a Sunday brunch with friends, simplicity is key and these recipes will help streamline the cooking process for you.

The beauty of working with five or fewer ingredients is that you probably already have some of them in your kitchen, such as olive oil, butter, and maybe even phyllo dough. Rest assured that you will not have to stock up on rarely used ingredients, nor will you have to slave away in the kitchen. Instead, sit back and savor the food and the company.

RECIPE TIPS:

Prepared Foods Are Your Best Friends Make the grocery store work for you. Purchasing foods that are already prepped at the supermarket helps reduce the amount of work required later on. Reach for the bakery's freshly made baguettes or get a head start with store-bought cookie, phyllo, and pizza doughs.
recipes to try:
Petits Pains au Chocolat
Truffled Taleggio and Mushroom Pizza

Get a Fresh Start When you're working with a very limited number of ingredients, quality really matters. When possible, buy the freshest in-season fruits and vegetables that you can find. Consider using goods that are artisanal quality and organically grown, many of which you can buy at the farmers' market. The subtleties in flavor that might have once been masked by other ingredients will now shine through.
recipes to try:
Fresh Figs with Goat Cheese and Peppered Honey
Watermelon and Feta Salad

Cool it down
There are days when you just don't feel like cooking anything, so always keep a bunch of no-cook recipes on hand. Some of the tastiest-and easiest-foods to prepare are no-cook and can be eaten as is, or with the help of the "cooking" acids in citrus juice, as in ceviches. These dishes are perfect when it's just too hot to turn on the oven.
recipes to try:
Scandinavian Ceviche
Orange Fools

4-ingredient Spaghetti with Pecorino Romano and Black Pepper
yield: Makes 4 first-course servings active time: 20 min total time: 20 min Cacio e Pepe For this recipe, you need to grate the cheese with the ragged-edged holes of a box grater for ease of melting. Don't use the small teardrop-shaped holes or a rasp, as your cheese will clump up in the bowl.

Ingredients:
2 teaspoons black peppercorns 1/2 lb spaghetti 2 1/2 oz very finely grated Pecorino Romano (3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons) or Parmigiano-Reggiano plus additional for serving

Preparation:
Toast peppercorns in a dry small skillet over moderately high heat, swirling skillet, until fragrant and peppercorns begin to jump, 2 to 3 minutes. Coarsely crush peppercorns with a mortar and pestle or wrap in a kitchen towel and press on peppercorns with bottom of a heavy skillet.

Cook spaghetti in a 6- to 8-quart pot of boiling salted water until al dente.

Fill a large glass or ceramic bowl with some hot water to warm bowl. Just before spaghetti is finished cooking, drain bowl but do not dry.

Reserve 1/2 cup pasta cooking water, then drain pasta quickly in a colander (do not shake off excess water) and add to warm pasta bowl. Sprinkle 3/4 cup cheese and 3 tablespoons cooking water evenly over spaghetti and toss quickly. If pasta seems dry, toss with some additional cooking water.

Divide pasta among 4 plates, then sprinkle with pepper and 2 tablespoons cheese (total). Serve immediately with additional cheese on the side.

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