Pasta recipes

A tasty family meat sauce that is super flavorful.

Kasha varnishkes is the classic Jewish comfort dish: toasted buckwheat groats coated with egg, simmered with caramelized onions and porcini mushrooms, then tossed with bowtie pasta.

Slow-simmered puttanesca sauce cooked 6 to 8 hours with plum tomatoes, a whole head of garlic, anchovies, kalamata olives, and capers. Dark, rich, and deeply concentrated.

Cincinnati 5-way chili: cinnamon and allspice-spiced beef chili ladled over vermicelli, then crowned with beans, onions, and cheddar. Greek-influenced Midwestern original.

Hearty lentil tomato sauce with dried lentils, fresh tomatoes, and Italian herbs simmered into a thick, protein-rich vegetarian pasta sauce. Meaty texture without the meat.

Spaghetti with a rich simmered ground beef sauce loaded with mushrooms, scallions, garlic, and tomatoes. Inspired by the Italian port city of Brindisi, ready in 45 minutes.

Raw zucchini and yellow squash salad with Roma tomatoes, sun-dried tomatoes, green onions, and apple cider vinegar. Low-fat, vegan, and versatile over pasta or rice.

Rabbit with sweet Italian sausage braised in a tomato-and-wine sauce with peppers, garlic, and a bright lift of orange. Lean rabbit browns in the sausage fat for deep, rustic Italian flavor over pasta or rice.

Cajun-style fish seared in a fiery pecan butter sauce with three kinds of pepper, garlic, and hot sauce. Inspired by K-Paul's in New Orleans, this works best with firm fish like swordfish, tuna, or sturgeon.

Chicken Ya-Hah simmers chicken breast with jalapenos, water chestnuts, Szechwan chili sauce, curry, cumin, and red wine in tomato sauce. A spicy fusion stew over cornbread or rice.

Lentil lasagna layers red lentils, broccoli, mushrooms and corn with no-boil spinach noodles, finished with a vegan cheeze sauce of soy milk, nutritional yeast and turmeric. Dairy-free, hearty and weeknight-friendly.

Giant-batch spaghetti sauce with ground beef, blended onions, bell peppers, mushrooms, and tomato paste simmered all day. A freezer-friendly family recipe meant to fill two 5-gallon pots and stock your freezer for months.

A hearty vegetarian version of my favorite soup. It's easy to make it vegetarian by using roasted vegetable stock instead of beef stock. By adding a leftover parmesan rind (I save them in the freezer for this soup) it adds extra flavor. (optional)

Vegan eggplant lasagna with cornmeal-crusted oven-fried eggplant, tofu ricotta filling, and tomato sauce. No pasta, no dairy, all the layered comfort of classic lasagna.

A tasty family staple recipe that is easy to make and beats any jarred sauce.

Vegetarian pasta sauce with tomato paste, mushrooms, oregano, basil, and Parmesan. A simple from-scratch marinara for macaroni using pantry staples.