Five shelf-stable ingredients are enough to put together a real dinner on any evening without shopping: dried pasta or rice, canned tomatoes, canned legumes, extra virgin olive oil and eggs. Keep those five and the gap between "there is nothing in the house" and a plate of food is about twenty minutes.

1. Pasta or rice, 1 kg at a time

Dried pasta keeps for two to three years in a closed packet and costs little per portion. Keep one short shape and one long one: short for soups and baked dishes, long for oil-based or tomato sauces. Rice is the alternative when you want something that also works cold the next day. A portion is 80 g per person, 160 g for two.

2. Canned tomatoes, at least four tins

Whole peeled tomatoes, chopped tomatoes or passata: they are all the same fruit picked in season and preserved within hours, which is why a tin in January tastes better than a fresh tomato in January. They keep two to three years. Four tins cover four dinners.

3. Canned legumes, at least four tins

Chickpeas, cannellini, borlotti or lentils, already cooked, ready in the time it takes to warm them. A 240 g drained tin serves two as a main course with bread, or becomes a soup with pasta and water. Legumes are the cheapest protein per portion and they keep for years.

4. Extra virgin olive oil

One litre at a time, stored away from light and heat, used within a year of opening. It is the cooking fat, the dressing and, with garlic and chilli, an entire pasta sauce on its own. Keep the bottle out of the window and away from the hob: light and heat are what turn oil rancid, not time alone.

5. Eggs, always six

Eggs keep three to four weeks in the fridge and turn into dinner in ten minutes: frittata, eggs on bread, carbonara, pasta with egg and cheese. They are also the fastest protein to cook when you get home late.

How do you keep the five from running out?

The rule that works is simple: when you open the last tin, the replacement goes on the list immediately, not on the day you need it. That is the moment everyone forgets. With a shared list on everyone's phone, whoever opens the last tin of chickpeas adds them in three seconds, and whoever passes the supermarket first buys them.