Pasta recipes

Classic baked macaroni and cheese with American cheese, milk, and a paprika-dusted top. Simple, creamy comfort food that tastes like childhood in a casserole dish.

My Italian husband uses this filling to make tortellini at home, and it's by far the most delicious filling. He does change the meat around, and we love them all! It's freezer friendly, so we usually make a bunch.

Spinach and three-cheese stuffed manicotti with sautéed mushrooms, baked in spaghetti sauce until bubbly. No-boil shells make this Florentine-style pasta a breeze.

Stuffed shells florentine with jumbo pasta shells filled with spinach, mushrooms, cottage cheese, and garlic, baked in marinara. Lighter Italian comfort food.

Lightning-fast bay scallop saute with tri-color bell peppers, garlic, white wine, fresh basil, and toasted pine nuts over pasta. A low-calorie seafood dinner that's on the table in 20 minutes.

Penne with cauliflower, fresh and sun-dried tomatoes, basil, and Parmesan. A no-cook sauce tossed with hot pasta and cauliflower boiled together in the same pot. Ready in 30 minutes.

Cannelloni stuffed with chicken, spinach, ricotta, and toasted almonds, blanketed in a Swiss cheese cream sauce and baked until bubbly. A showstopper for Sunday dinner or date night.

A scrumptious dish made with potatoes, gruyere cheese and juicy apples.

Syrian noodles with lentils is a hearty one-pot vegetarian stew of cumin and coriander-spiced lentils simmered until tender, then finished with broken vermicelli. High-fiber comfort food that feeds six for pennies.

Linguine with grilled chicken and eggplant tosses hot pasta with smoky charred Japanese eggplant, chicken, fresh basil, garlic, and Romano cheese. Rustic Italian dinner ready in under an hour.

Baked rigatoni with ground turkey, porcini mushrooms, and tomatoes topped with homemade bechamel, breadcrumbs, and Parmesan. A hearty one-dish pasta bake.

Ham linguine Florentine with wilted spinach, mushrooms, and a creamy Dijon-marjoram sauce made lighter with evaporated skim milk. Topped with toasted almonds.

Linguine tossed with baby lima beans, grainy mustard, scallions, and fresh plum tomatoes in a light vegetable broth sauce. Ready in 15 minutes.

Straw and Hay pasta combines regular and green fettuccine with mushrooms, peas, ham, and a light Parmesan cream sauce. A classic Italian dish named for its two-toned pasta, made lighter with skim milk.

Seared sea scallops and sliced pears over fettuccine in a garlic cream sauce with white wine, lemon verbena, and fresh ginger juice. An elegant, unexpected pairing.

Hearty vegetable pasta soup with zucchini, carrots, tomatoes, six cloves of garlic, and fettuccine in chicken broth. A warming one-pot soup for cold, rainy days.