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

https://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/pasta/sicilian-spaghetti-alla-norma/

Broccoli pasta but the trick is to overcook the broccoli so it turns into a kind of pesto consistency. Cook the dried pasta along with broccoli florets for 11 min. Drain and stir the broccoli in till well blended. Then stir in plenty of freshly grated good quality Parmesan and some black pepper. Could add some garlic and toasted pine nuts if you like those, my kids don’t and it’s delish even without!

Tagliatelle, creme fraiche, lemon juice, finely grated lemon rind, cooked peas, ribbons of smoked salmon.

A really good tomato sauce base is your go to here..
The ones in Italian restaurants are simmered for hours with lots of herbs and veg stock cubes. Makes it rich and gorgeous
Seasoned nicely.
Then add your chosen cooked veg
We always have some vac packed frozen in batches in our freezer.

Lightly fry some capers in oil, I tend to use olive oil. Drain well. Save the oil as it will now be flavored and delicious. The oil keeps in the refrigerator for ages. Makes a nice base for a salad dressing.

cook pasta of your choice. Mix with capers, either butter or a bit of the flavored oil, and freshly grated parmesan.

Make a sauce with white miso, garlic, and butter. Especially good with fresh mushrooms lightly sautéed.

(all my pasta recipes are tomato free as I’m severely allergic)

It can be difficult to find gemelli, so i use fusilli.

But, this, is currently my favourite dinner. I absolutely love it.

https://www.nigella.com/recipes/gemelli-with-anchovies-tomatoes-and-mascarpone

Do you like orzo, cos Nigella has a few recipes that might interest you.

https://www.nigella.com/recipes/chicken-in-a-pot-with-lemon-and-orzo

I make these fairly regularly.

https://www.nigella.com/recipes/meatballs-with-orzo

Loving this thread.

This is one I’ve just made tonight, it’s a variation of a Jamie Oliver TV recipe decades old that I have made hundreds of times when I fancy meat free, super quick, fresh tasting pasta with not many ingredients and zero effort.

Cook pasta Penne Al Dente, around 90g per adult
Warm good quality olive oil in a large pan and add garlic (any form is fine) I tend to use chilli oil or extra virgin.
Add a tin of quality Italian tomatoes, plum or chopped, I use Mutti. Add a few chilli flakes if preferred and a good splash if balsamic vinegar or glaze.
Once cooked through add a generous spoonful of hard Italian cheese like Parmesan or Pecorino.
Add a chopped mozzarella ball. As this melts add the cooked pasta and stir well.
Serve with blacked cracked pepper, extra Parmesan on top and fresh chopped basil.

Pasta pomodoro

but use Mutti tinned tons. Its bloody lush!

Another one, one of the best pasta dishes I had and the simplest, was on the Italian slopes, sat outside in the sun, and it was a dish of Spaghetti aglio e olio It was so simple and so good, although I put tonnes of Parmesan on the top.

I make a pasta bake occasionally. It's the only thing I really make. I use a Homepride tomato and herb sauce,(have used the tomato and bacon which is also nice), i put carrots, broccoli and mushrooms in along with pasta and top with cheese.

This is my go-to pasta recipe as I nearly always have the ingredients in stock.
I usually ramp up the chili but I find it is rich enough to not need Parmesan.
And even if you’re not keen on anchovies it is well worth giving it a try, a small tin of them melts into the sauce to add umami richness while not being very detectable or fishy at all.
I found this recipe in the very early 70s from a free booklet given away with Nova magazine (RIP) entitled “Two dozen easy recipes a bright girl can cook.” (!!)
It does make a difference using Italian tinned tomatoes like Cirio or Napolina but if not, add a tablespoon or so or tomato purée.

My husband is big fan of meatballs, i am not, he is currently getting through a big pasta meatballs dish that consists of beef meatballs, fusilli, onion, mushrooms and a jar of dolmio.

QuicK and easy (put the pasta on before the sauce).
I used low fat cream cheese instead of crème fraiche. https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/smoked_salmon_courgette_49013

Courgette, lemon and feta linguine

One of my favourites is to cube smoked tofu and coat it with oil and spices of your choice, turn get it till crispy while your pasta cooks. Then add passata, capers and artichoke hearts and a little of the pasta water and mix. It's delicious and so easy. If you don't like tofu maybe just fry the spices in oil with the capers and artichoke.

Mushroom ketchup you say? How have I never heard of this.

Pasta with vodka sauce is nice (had a couple of variations) but sadly I couldn’t taste the vodka.

I love this lentil bolognese recipe. It’s really flavoursome and the addition of finely chopped walnuts seems to take it to the next level! It freezes well so is ideal for batch cooking.
rainbowplantlife.com/10-ingredient-vegan-red-lentil-bolognese/#wprm-recipe-container-5570

https://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/pasta/pregnant-jools-pasta/

this jamie Oliver is a favourite in our house. It’s delicious.

Another favourite is pasta with roast butternut squash, feta and lots of fresh thyme leaves.

Roast the following in olive oil for 30 mins - 1 onion, 4 garlic cloves, 2 peppers, 1 pack cherry tomatoes, 1 block of feta cheese, salt, pepper, paprika. Then whizz in a blender and pour over cooked pasta 😋

Pasta is my favourite food so watching 😋