Yes pasta or rice is the the way to go - then add a tasty sauce and a liitle meat.
Mixing the meat with beans, peppers and other veg spins out the meat a bit more.
I like doing pasta, chorizo sausage, peppers and beans in a tomato sauce with rice and peas.
It has Spanish/Moorish feel and is tasty and looks colourful with the yellow rice, hot red sauce and a mix of red, green and yellow peppers.
For four people, cut up a chorizo sausage (M&S do one) into small finger nail sized pieces, fry with a green, red and yellow pepper cut . Add 2 x tins of tomatoes, garlic, two oxo cubes, two tins of cannelini beans. Stir lightly so as not to break up the beans and then simmer gently and add a glass of very cheap white wine or dry sherry at the end. Add more paprica which is the spice in chorizo if you want more spicy heat.
When the sauce is done and simmering gently drop 4 mugs of rice in boilig water with a few good pinches of yellow turneric powder in the pan and some salt. Turneric adds a nice yellow colour and much cheaper than saffron. Add a mug of frozen peas right at the end of the rice boiling to add even more colour.
Leave for one minute for the peas to melt, but do not boil the rice too long - leave it slightly firm and wash through with two kettle so boiling water and seive thoroughly to get the water out.
Serve the rice and sauce immediately in two big pots with ladles for people to help themslelves.