Pasta/5 recipes

Homemade meatball soup with bow-tie pasta, chickpeas, spinach, and mushrooms in a basil tomato broth. Italian comfort in a bowl that feeds the whole family.

A simple, freezer-friendly chicken lasagna layered with spinach, cottage cheese, Parmesan, and creamy chicken filling. Five ingredients, minimal prep, and it freezes like a dream.

Fresh mango salsa with red peppers, cilantro, and garlic pulsed in a food processor, then tossed over chilled rice vermicelli. A bright, no-cook summer pasta dish.

A tasty and scrumptious seafood pasta dish that will have you hooked from the first bite to the last!

Pasta rosa: cheese tortellini tossed with shrimp, sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, cayenne, and peppery arugula in olive oil. Finished with grated Romano. Italian-style 30-minute pasta dinner.

Vegetarian rasta pasta with a creamy pumpkin coconut sauce spiced with allspice, thyme, and ginger over angel hair. Loaded with broccoli, mushrooms, zucchini, and corn.

Ground beef simmered in tomatoes with onion and green pepper, then tossed with spaghetti and cubed Swiss cheese that melts into every strand. Comfort food spaghetti with a cheesy twist.

Homemade Italian cream rolls with cinnamon-spiced fried shells, sweet ricotta filling with candied citron and chocolate, finished with blanched pistachios and powdered sugar. Makes 16 to 18 cannoli.

Pasta green salad tosses rotini and shredded Swiss with green beans, peas, cucumber and bell pepper in a creamy lemon-dill yogurt dressing. A bright, make-ahead potluck salad you dress right before serving.

Here is a kind of throw together recipe I came up with: If you are entertaining you can garnish with fresh parsley and serve with a caesar salad, garlic bread and a nice chablis. The vegetables can vary. I've used mushrooms, spinach, cauliflower etc. Grouper works well with this because it has a lot of flavor. I've used fresh tuna and halibut but prefer grouper.

Shrimp and pork stir-fried with cellophane noodles, dried mushrooms, and sherry in a wok. A quick Chinese-style noodle dish that soaks up savory mushroom broth.

Homemade poppy seed pasta with fresh herbs kneaded into the dough. Hand-rolled, paper-thin egg noodles with a nutty crunch from poppy seeds in every bite.

Silky sweet corn coulis made from fresh corn kernels and cob broth, strained smooth and finished with butter and cayenne. A refined sauce for shrimp and corn ravioli.

Warm cannellini beans with olive oil, lemon, and garlic spooned over pasta and topped with chunky canned tuna and scallions. A 20-minute Italian pantry dinner.

Northern Italian style lasagna layered with a bacon-rich meat sauce, a creamy nutmeg-scented white sauce, and a parmesan-ricotta filling. Richer and creamier than the usual red-sauce version.

Gourmet pasta salad with garlic-parsley spaghetti, artichoke hearts, capers, diced tomatoes, and scallions in a spicy olive oil-mustard dressing. Vegetarian and ready in 25 minutes.