Please give me your best pasta recipes. Bored of boring bolognese etc

[MarthaBerry]

i recently had a delicious pasta badged as “roast veg rigatoni “ at a restaurant and it was so so delicious. Rich, salty, herby. Just marvellous but my pasta attempts always feel lacking. What’s the secret of restaurant pasta (meat free for me) and has anyone got any recipes they make and recommend ? I’ve mastered a good tomato and basil but craving more interesting ones. I love all veg, artichokes, capers but need rock solid tried and tested ! Thank you. Hopefully this is a nice friendly Saturday thread that’ll give me something to cook later

I don't eat pasta very often any more but if I occasionally get the craving it's generally for this: blitz half a jar of sun-dried tomatoes, a clove or two of garlic and some chilli flakes, using some of the oil from the toms to loosen it (in a mini food processor or with a hand blender) Fry it for a couple of minutes and then stir through cooked linguine. Top with fresh Parmesan and rocket. I usually add defrosted prawns or tiny bits of cubed fried chorizo. It's amazing.

*NB also good with mozzarella if you're veggie!

The trick with meat sauces is to cook long and slow, when I’m wfh I make the sauce in my lunch break and leave to simmer all afternoon. I tend to find the opposite with veggie sauces, they are best made quickly so less mushy. I make this lentil bolognese frequently but I use the pouches of lentils and add in 250g of mushrooms plus some mushroom ketchup to give it a richer, deeper flavour. I have a couple of other nice veggie pasta recipes I’ll dig them out later today https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/puy_lentil_bolognaise_40407

Hard to choose one but I recommend this - Cheat's Paella
https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/uk/food/recipes/a570581/cheats-paella/

Fry off garlic and onions, add a splash of white wine, add mushrooms, season, when they've coloured pour in double cream or creme fresh, simmer for a few minutes, fresh parsley and parmesan to finish. Sounds very simple but it's delicious. I sometimes add cayenne pepper for a kick.

I have been cooking a pasta dish recently. The base is courgettes, onions & garlic. Tin of tomatoes. Add herbs such as oregano. Add spinach. Add nutritional yeast flakes for that creamy cheese taste. I also add red kidney beans for extra protein ( vegan here )
Then serve with pasta. Bliss :-)

Have you tried looking for similar recipes? This looks straightforward and appetising

A meat free favourite of mine is spaghetti Aglio e Olio.. I quite like a bit of salt and this really simple dish hits the spot

Also love a gnocchi cheese bake especially in winter.

Boil pasta, at the right time add veg to the water (I like peas and green beans). Once done, drain (reserve some of the water), put into pasta bowl and cover. In the same saucepan, put chopped onion followed by garlic (can both be from frozen) with the barest splash of oil, when softened put cream cheese in (judge portion by trial and error), add pasta water slowly until right consistency, put pasta and veg in, give everything good stir and serve.

Easy
Freezer friendly ingredients
Cheap
Quick
Full of flavour
Edit to add: very little cleaning up

Meat eaters can add bacon lardons at the onion stage.

Really simple but tasty lemon and pepper spaghetti.

Cook the pasta (extra marks if you make your own).

Zest a lemon and then juice it.

Once the pasta is cooked drain, add the lemon zest and milled black pepper.

Super easy but not a restaurant meal.

Pasta
Cream Cheese
Optional - mushrooms, onions, peppers

Cook the pasta, meanwhile fry the veg in butter, if you are not using the veg just heat a frying pan. Dollop in a tablespoon of cream cheese, add a couple of spoons of the pasta water, once you have a creamy sauce drain and add the pasta.

Dr Vegan has this, I'm going to make this week!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/baked_pappardelle_with_21046 This is gorgeous, I just leave out the pancetta.

Simon Rimmer had a lovely recipe for squash cannelonni. I cannot find the original anymore, but this looks the same: https://www.bigoven.com/recipe/leek-and-butternut-squash-canneloni/1258977

https://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/pasta/sicilian-spaghetti-alla-norma/
https://www.recipetineats.com/spinach-ricotta-stuffed-shells/
https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/veggie_tarts_spaghetti_71678

Two veggie favourites:
think the first was a Nigel Slater. Take an aubergine, slice, lay out in oven dish. Scatter with chopped garlic and a bag of cherry tomatoes. Loads of olive oil. Like 75 mls or something. Roast for 45 mins or so. Then it’s all broken up and roasted and ready to be seasoned and have cheese etc on top with pasta. Love it.

secondly, and surprisingly delicious- take a couple of courgettes and grate them. Slowly fry the big pile of them down in a bit of oil. Take a lemon or two and add the juice, season, a little cream if you like it. I love Parmesan too. Then add it to linguine or whatever pasta.

Both of these I do without recipes now so just cook to personal preference. The aubergine should be all squidgy, the tomatoes a little charred looking. The courgettes should really turn into a sauce.

Plus, google Ottolenghi’s vegan ragu (whack on Parmesan). Really rich, and can freeze half for another family meal. I now also do simpler versions too which hit the spot.

This is amazing. It’s a punchy veggie pasta salad, so much better than the average bland one. I’ve never had it warm but I reckon it would work.

http://5oclockapron.com/recipes/roasted-vegetable-pasta-salad-with-sundried-tomato-pesto

Great idea for a thread, already some I want to try on here

Great thread.

Im no expert on authentic pasta sauces but this is the pasta puttanesca I make from a tatty old cookery book.

It really makes a difference buying decent tinned tomatoes.

Heat 80ml oil or a bit less in a good quality pan. Add 2 cloves of crushed and chopped garlic, 6 anchovies and a generous pinch of chilli flakes. Use a wooden spoon to break up the anchovies and combine it all as it starts to cook. Add a 400g tin of tinned tomatoes, combine well and cook for a minute. Add a scant 100g of sliced pitted black olives, a sprig or two of oregano (or a tsp of dried) and a scant tablespoon of drained capers. Bring back to the boil and simmer very gently while you cook the pasta.

Apparentky you’re not supposed to add Parmesan when eating this sauce if it has anchovies, but I often do anyway.

Roast a halved butternut squash with chopped chunks of carrot, fennel and garlic cloves. Scoop the cooked squash out of its skin and blend with the carrot, fennel, garlic and veg stock. Delicious as it is, or topped with crumbled blue cheese, and/or toasted pine nuts/flaked almonds.

This is also phenomenal if you like beetroot! https://www.riverford.co.uk/recipes/pink-beetroot-pasta

Trust me on this one! Sounds odd but absolutely delicious. I just mix the aubergine cubes with oil and pop them in the oven to save myself the faff of frying them but if you do fry them you don’t need anywhere near as much oil as is suggested.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/rigatoni_makhani_with_89610

Not a tomato base, but Nigel Slater has a divine spicy sausage pasta recipe. It’s requested for every birthday or celebratory tea we have! I’ve used vegetarian sausages before and it’s come out well.

Can only find it on American sites, but the recipe I have saved uses Dijon mustard specifically. I also like to use the extra thick double cream.

https://www.foodandwine.com/pasta-with-sausage-basil-and-mustard-6415687

This my version my lovely mum emailed me 15 years ago!

For 2 people

4spicy Italian pork sausages
olive oil
4 handfuls of dried pasta
glas of white wine
a pinch or two of dried chilli flakes
small handful of chopped basil
tablespoon of Dijon mustard
200ml double cream

Split the sausages open and take out the filling. Warm a little olive oil in a frying pan. Crumble the sausage meat into the hot pan and fry til sizzling and cooked through. Pour the wine into the sausage pan and let it bubble a bit, scraping at any sausage goo stuck to the bottom of the pan. Stir in the chilli flakes and chopped basil. Add a little salt and the mustard, pour in the cream and bring slowly to a simmer. Cook for a minute or two, stirring now and again.

Cook the pasta. When it is cooked, drain and tip into the creamy sausage sauce

I make a cheat tomato and mascarpone chicken pasta.

Cook quartered fresh tomatoes (I use a mix of large plum and the ones that are usually cheap and sold as a salad tomatoes) with mushrooms, garlic, tomato puree and chicken stock. When cooked add diced raw chicken, half tsp lazy chilli and when cooked a tub of cream cheese. Mix with rigatoni pasta.

@hugasaurus oh my goodness, that sounds amazing. I’ve got some Italian sausages from Lidl this week. I’m gonna try that tonight Thank you!

My son (vegan) does a lovely pasta dish with tofu pieces covered in almond or peanut butter. It’s fantastic.

My veggie one is homemade “pesto” from walnuts, cheese and kale. Stilton if I’m feeling rich.