Pasta recipes

Quick spicy sesame noodles: spaghetti tossed with hot pepper sesame oil for a 10-minute Asian-style side. Pair with grilled chicken or beef for a fast weeknight dinner.

Thai-style clay pot shrimp with glass noodles, homemade cilantro-garlic-pepper pesto, ginger, and a savory sauce of fish sauce, oyster sauce, and sesame oil. Fragrant, slurp-worthy, and on the table in an hour.

Minestrone casalinga: a homestyle Italian vegetable soup packed with white beans, leeks, cabbage, zucchini, and orzo. Rustic, layered, and exactly what cold weather calls for.

Vegetarian linguine with miso sauce, sauteed shiitake mushrooms, eggplant, zucchini, and yellow bell pepper. Light, savory, low-calorie, and ready in 20 minutes.

Excellent dressing for vegetables, pasta, fish, or salads.

Mexican-style lentils simmer with tomato sauce, sweet corn, onion, and bold spices into a hearty, plant-based base for rice or pasta. Cheap, filling, and weeknight-friendly.

Flour-dredged chicken livers sautéed golden and stirred into a rich tomato sauce with red wine, basil, oregano, and a hint of cinnamon. A hearty, old-school pasta sauce with incredible depth.

No-cook sun-dried tomato and olive pesto with pine nuts, fresh parsley, shallots, and garlic. A bold, savory alternative to traditional basil pesto.

Mushroom Bolognese with finely chopped shiitake and button mushrooms in a thick tomato sauce. A hearty, low-fat vegetarian pasta sauce with deep umami flavor and meaty texture.

Basic spaghetti sauce simmers tomato sauce with sauteed onions, garlic, green pepper, basil, and oregano in under 30 minutes. A pantry-staple weeknight base for pasta or pizza.

Light spaghetti sauce with tomato sauce, garlic, green bell pepper, red wine, basil, and oregano ready in 20 minutes. A quick, low-fat meatless marinara for weeknight pasta.

Sun-dried tomato spaghetti sauce with canned tomatoes, white wine, fennel seeds, and a vegetable soffritto sauteed in the sun-dried tomato oil. An intensely tomatoey, meatless pasta sauce.

Ravioli with sweetbreads filling: a classic French-Italian preparation of ground veal sweetbreads, shoulder, shallots, and Cognac baked into a rich pasta stuffing. Old-world fine dining at home.

Three-ingredient primavera cream sauce with heavy cream, butter, and Parmesan melted into a silky coating for pasta or spring vegetables. Quick Italian-style white sauce ready in 10 minutes.

Roasted vegetable broth made with caramelized onions, carrots, celery, mushrooms, apple, ginger, and herbs. A rich, golden stock built from whatever vegetables you have on hand.

Fast creamy spaghetti sauce with sauteed onions and garlic simmered in tomato sauce and red wine with green bell pepper, basil, and oregano. Ready in 30 minutes.