Pasta recipes

Two ingredients. Five minutes. Velveeta salsa dip stirred into hot pasta for an instant cheesy Mexican-style side dish. When you need dinner yesterday, this is the move.

Pasta Mexicana: a cold spinach-spaghetti pasta salad tossed with diced tomato, cucumber matchsticks, sliced avocado, salsa, and fresh cilantro. A Tex-Mex twist on summer pasta salad.

Mexican pasta casserole with chicken, jalapeno, olives, and Monterey Jack cheese in a cumin-chili tomato sauce baked with rigatoni. A spicy, cheesy one-dish dinner.

Mexicali pasta salad: tricolor pasta tossed with tart tomatillos, sweet pineapple chunks, jalapeño, cilantro, and a lime-zest dressing made from the reserved pineapple juice. Sweet, tangy, fiery summer side.

Mexican pasta salad with cumin-rubbed chicken breast, fettuccine, lime, cilantro, and fresh zucchini. A weeknight bowl that bridges Italian comfort and Tex-Mex brightness.

Pasta Chimayo tosses penne in a smoky ancho chile cream sauce with tequila-flambéed shrimp. A New Mexican-meets-Italian fusion dish that brings serious restaurant flair to weeknight dinner.

Fiesta pasta with mostaccioli tossed in a taco-seasoned spaghetti sauce with kidney beans, bell peppers, and Monterey Jack cheese. A Mexican-Italian fusion one-pot weeknight dinner.

This dish is best at room temperature, although it is good hot or cold also. I have given just the basic recipe; you can add all kinds of things, like corn, fresh tomatoes, cilantro, scallions, blanched chayote squash, etc.

Mexican pasta pie layered with ziti, taco-seasoned tomatoes, black beans, chicken, ricotta, and cheddar. A baked casserole that combines pasta night with taco night in one dish.

Homemade Mexican herb pasta made with durum semolina flour and dried cilantro using a pasta machine. A simple 4-ingredient fresh pasta with Southwestern flavor.

A make-ahead layered pasta salad loaded with kidney beans, corn, bell peppers, and a creamy taco-seasoned dressing. This Southwestern pasta salad feeds a crowd and tastes even better the next day.

Mexicali pasta pie with a spaghetti crust, cottage cheese layer, and spiced ground pork with green chiles and tomatoes, topped with cheddar and crushed corn chips. All microwave.

Jumbo pasta shells stuffed with creamy chili-seasoned ground beef, baked in taco sauce under a blanket of melted cheddar, Monterey Jack, and crushed tortilla chips. Taco night meets stuffed shells.

Peppery Portuguese-style pasta with a chunky vegetable sauce of tomatoes, leeks, carrots, and French beans spiked with hot chili sauce over spaghetti.

Bow-tie pasta tossed with salsa and melted Monterey Jack cheese, topped with crispy fried scallions. A quick Mexican-inspired pasta dish ready in 30 minutes.

Mexican stuffed pasta shells filled with seasoned refried beans, cumin, and chili powder, topped with black olives and melted Monterey Jack. A vegetarian Italian-Mexican fusion ready in 40 minutes.