Pasta recipes

Meaty ziti casserole with a lean blend of ground chuck and ground turkey, mushrooms, bell pepper, and a from-scratch tomato sauce baked under bubbling parmesan. A weeknight crowd-pleaser that lightens the classic without losing the meat-sauce flavor.

Melrose plates: chicken and pasta salad with mandarin oranges, water chestnuts and a honey-mustard poppy seed yogurt dressing. A lighter chicken-pasta luncheon salad served on lettuce.

Crawfish Kowalski tosses wagon wheel pasta with crawfish tails, kielbasa, and a beer-spiked cream sauce with cayenne. A bold Cajun-Polish mashup ready in 40 minutes.

A tasty and succulent pasta dish made with parmesan cheese and a rich and delicious vodka sauce.

Tomato vegetable broth with carrots, parsnips, turnip, celery, and an onion stuck with cloves simmered slow with fresh herbs. A clean, deeply flavored homemade vegetable stock that beats anything from a box.

Greek-style spaghetti mizithra: a five-ingredient pasta tossed with Kasseri and Romano cheeses, drowned in browned butter, and finished with fresh parsley. The Old Spaghetti Factory classic.

Garlic spaghetti (aglio e olio) with golden garlic sauteed in olive oil, tossed with pasta water, fresh parsley, and Parmesan. Five ingredients, 35 minutes, and the simplest Italian pasta you can make.

Spaghetti tossed with black-eyed peas, artichoke hearts, black olives, and Parmesan in a garlicky bean broth. A hearty, protein-packed meatless pasta dinner in 30 minutes.

Five ingredients, thirty minutes, and pure Italian simplicity. Garlic warmed to pale gold in olive oil, then chicken broth reduced until glossy and drizzled over spaghettini with fresh parsley.

Lasagne rolls stuff cooked lasagna noodles with a three-cheese ricotta filling, then bake them under tomato sauce and Parmesan. A portion-friendly twist on classic lasagna.

Tender strips of tripe slow-braised in tomato sauce with red wine, garlic, herbs, and a hit of lemon zest, finished with freshly grated Parmesan. A rustic Italian classic served over pasta.

Stracciatelle with tiny meatballs is Italian wedding soup made simple: chicken broth with spinach, carrots, pasta, tiny beef meatballs, and silky parmesan egg ribbons. 45-minute family soup.

Tuna sauce with noodles melts mozzarella, tuna, pureed cottage cheese, and coffee cream with tomato paste and parsley over hot pasta. Quick European-style pantry dinner ready in 40 minutes.

Microwave seafood marinara with fresh tuna, mushrooms, black olives, basil, and Roma tomatoes over whole wheat pasta. A quick weeknight Italian dinner ready in 30 minutes.

Lightened fettuccine alfredo built on blended simmered garlic and broth, thickened with sour cream and parmesan instead of heavy cream. Zucchini matchsticks cook in the pasta water for a vegetable-loaded quick dinner.

Homemade potato gnocchi stuffed with your choice of ricotta-basil-walnut or ham and Parmesan filling, boiled and served with tomato sauce. Italian comfort food from scratch.