How to start cooking with one calm, complete meal

What you need to know

Read the recipe and prepare before using heat

Measure ingredients, open cans and clear the work area first. Once the stove is on, your attention should stay with the food.

Make the cutting board stable

Put a damp towel or nonslip mat underneath, use a maintained sharp knife, curl the fingertips of your guiding hand and cut slowly.

Clean, separate, cook and chill

Wash hands and surfaces, keep raw animal foods away from ready-to-eat food, use a thermometer and refrigerate leftovers promptly.

Stay with a hot stovetop

Turn pan handles inward, keep a matching lid nearby and never use water on a grease fire. Leave and call for help if a fire is not controlled.

Taste and change one thing at a time

Compare before and after each small addition of salt, acid, water or heat. This is how a recipe becomes transferable skill.

Choose a first meal with few moving parts

A useful beginner recipe has a short ingredient list, familiar equipment and steps that can wait for one another. Avoid a first attempt that combines frying, baking and a sauce that must be served at a precise second.

Build a small, safe workstation

You need a large cutting board, a chef’s knife you can comfortably control, a medium pot, a deep frying pan or saucepan, a colander, a wooden spoon or heat-resistant spatula, measuring spoons, a timer and dry oven mitts.

Optional equipment

ThermoPop 2 when you move beyond the first pasta meal

An instant-read food thermometer helps you check temperatures when a recipe calls for them. This simple probe is a possible later addition for cooking meat or reheating food; it is not needed to judge whether this pasta is tender.

Keep an accurate food thermometer you already have, or borrow one for a recipe that needs it. For the first pasta dinner, begin with the basic workstation described above.

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Product details and buying options

ThermoWorks — United States · Shop

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Cook the pasta dinner

Boil pasta according to its package, stirring after it goes in. In a deep pan, soften chopped onion and vegetables in oil, then add tomatoes and drained chickpeas. Drain the pasta carefully, keeping a little cooking water, and stir it into the sauce over low heat.

Store the result and repeat one skill

Serve what you plan to eat and move the rest into shallow containers rather than leaving the whole pan on the stove. Refrigerate perishable food within two hours, or within one hour when the surrounding temperature is above 32°C/90°F.