Sophia Khatsenkova 9:12 p.m., September 16, 2021

For those who don't like spending hours in their kitchen on weekdays, there are ways to save time.

With "batch cooking", it is possible to prepare all your meals for the week in advance in just two hours.

This is the promise made by Caroline Pessin, author and food stylist, guest of Europe 1 this Monday. 

INTERVIEW

The art of preparing all your meals for the week in one cooking session can seem mission impossible, especially for all parents who work late.

To help you save time, Caroline Pessin, food stylist, has a solution: "batch cooking".

The author of four books, the last of which 

In 2h I cook for the whole week, Veggie version 

(Hachette Cuisine editions) ensures that this technique can save time, ensure healthy meals and avoid waste.

She was the guest of

Bienfait pour vous

 on Europe 1.

Batch cooking, how does it work? 

It all starts with the races, the time of which is not taken into account in the 2-hour batch cooking session. Caroline Pessin recommends doing them the day before because it could be tiring to go directly to the kitchen. You should start cooking the next morning, when you have a little more energy. "I recommend doing it on Sunday morning. That way, we gained a cool day in the week," she explains at the microphone of Europe 1.

Usually the first 30 minutes consist of peeling and chopping the vegetables.

Then, it takes an hour of cooking.

To go faster, Caroline Pessin encourages readers to cook her preparations on two floors of the oven simultaneously.

The last half hour is devoted to the preparation of sauces and accompaniments.

During the week, all you have to do is reheat and assemble your preparations.

For those who find that even 2 hours is too much time, Caroline Pessin advises to motivate the members of her family to help in the preparation.

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An anti-waste technique

For the writing of her books, Caroline Pessin has put herself in the shoes of a family of four, whose two parents come home late at night and do not always have time to cook. If you are a couple or alone, you can enjoy the recipes by reducing the amounts of ingredients. Everything is calculated so that no ingredient wilts in your fridge. "For example, if I say buy 10 carrots, they are all used. For example radishes, I will use the tops in a pesto or in a soup. We do not throw anything away," she explains.  

In each book, there is a menu list as well as the shopping list.

The author places particular importance on respecting the seasonality of products.

For example, this fall, she recommends ingredients such as leeks, pears and white mushrooms on the menus. 

"I try to pool the ingredients and the preparations so as not to launch ten things at the same time. So, there are going to be common ingredients that will be found in several recipes, but in very different ways. For example, if I'm making lentils, I'm going to make a large quantity of them. And then, I'm going to prepare them in two different ways. You can make a salad on one side or a hot dish, "says the author. 

How to properly store your recipes?

If you want to prepare more portions, Caroline Pessin recommends increasing the quantities and keeping the dishes in the freezer for 15 days.

But there are some products like lentils and chickpeas that can keep for up to five days in the fridge.

For more delicate ingredients like salad, Caroline Pessin has her technique to make it last several days in her fridge, "As soon as you come home from shopping or the next day, wash it well, dry it and put it in a box. airtight, wrapped in a cloth or in a paper towel. It will keep up to 10 days, "she says. 

However, for menus with meat or fish, it will be necessary to freeze its preparations in order to avoid the proliferation of harmful bacteria. 

Another advantage: save money 

Batch cooking is also an effective technique for saving money. By planning the menu in advance, you know exactly what you are buying. In addition, we do not buy too much and we avoid waste. "Everything that is bought is used, at least in my menus. And then, we avoid buying pizzas in the evening, ordering. And that quickly becomes expensive," says Caroline Pessin.