Terrible lies: On make-ahead dinners, pizza and soup

I have two particular favorite make-ahead dinners that I haven't written about here before. Both of them work by dividing the prep into two parts. In step one, you make the basis for four (!) meals for two or three people at once and pop them into the freezer. Later, you can make each meal-serving into one of several different variations on a theme. There's some real cooking time on the final end in both cases, so you can't just walk in the door and have dinner on the table in fifteen minutes, but surprisingly little fuss or muss. This is especially true because I have my prep down to a science.

So -- here's my plan. I'm going to make at least two posts about each one in the coming week or weeks. Post one will show you how to do the make-ahead bit. Post two will show you what to do with the base once you have it, and I'll try to be as explicit as I can about the approach I use that leaves me with clean counters and few dirty dishes.

The first of these (though not necessarily the first I'll post about! we'll see) is my favorite thin-crust pizza. This pizza comes almost directly from the Figs Restaurant recipe, which you can find online here, though I'll talk in more detail about my process and how it works with my own methods for cooking ahead. I was first alerted to this pizza by this inspiring post at the Grub Report. If you don't want to wait around for my take on it, follow those links and you can get started all on your own!

The second set of dinners is a suite of soups made using Lidia Bastianich's clever method of creating a rich vegetarian base ahead of time, then combining it with any number of delicious and varied star ingredients to create several quite distinctive final dishes. In particular, I like the Savory Potato Broth from Lidia's Family Table. This basic recipe is also available online (as part of this recipe for vegetable soup with rice) if you want to get started without me. But do check back here for the full unabridged story of exactly how we do it in these parts!

Comments

[redfox]

Ha ha, except you are going to have to wait until later because JESUS CHRIST I have a lot to do. I don't think anyone was actually holding his or her breath here, but just in case: it's going to be a bit. Sorry.

[Shannon]

Hi redfox,

In the last few months, you may remember receiving an email invitation to become a part of the Foodbuzz Featured Publisher Program. With all the recipe-writing and food photography to be completed, we know emails can easily get lost in the shuffle, so Foodbuzz would like to re-extend our offer of inviting you to be a part of our food blogger network. I would love to send you more details about the program, so if you are interested, please email me at Shannon@foodbuzz.com.

Cheers!

Shannon Eliot
Editorial Assistant, Foodbuzz.com
shannon@foodbuzz.com

[leeann]

i agree. i love to have easy food at home. and the most important part is the prep. the farther you can prep in advance, the better. if there is a main component to the meal you can prep at the beginning of the week and stem other meals from, this is the best strategy. it creates ease with grocery shopping and for creating meals. if you prep first and then cook the meal, it goes incredibly quickly. cheers to that.

[moonlightnrain]

Oh Hungry Tiger, why hast thou forsaken us? I keep checking back, but still no new posts. :(

Signed,
Sad Panda in Snow

[Lydia (The Perfect Pantry)]

First visit here -- such fun to read your take on food -- similar to my own. I'm all about making prep easier!

[Marilyn Remmel]

Redfox, you have an error in the Lemon Cookies recipe. The amount of lemon juice is missing. Please see your post of April 2, 2003. Thanks