Pasta Recipes for Quick and Comforting Meals

Guide

Choose noodle recipes suitable for time, sauce and occasion

Noodles can be a quick dinner, a pre-preparable casserole, a cold salad or the basis for an Asian pan. Decide first how the dish should be served: fresh and hot, overbaked, fried, as soup or cold. After that, the choice of pasta, sauce and cooking time is much easier.

For a quick meal often enough pasta, a simple sauce and a fresh finish of herbs, cheese or roasted seeds. If more time remains, Lasagne, Nudelauflauf, slow cooked sauce or homemade components are suitable.

Which noodle shape fits which sauce?

The shape influences how well a sauce adheres to the noodles. Long, thin pasta such as spaghetti or linguine fits with smooth, oily and creamy sauces. Short varieties such as Penne, Rigatoni or Fusilli take up piecey vegetable, tomato and minced meat sauces particularly well.

• Long noodles: for Pesto, Carbonara, Aglio e Olio, creamy sauces and fine tomato sauce.
• Short noodles: for piecey sauces, vegetable pans, casseroles and pasta salad.
• Broad noodles: for ragout, mushroom sauce and other strong or creamy companions.
• Small soup noodles: for broths, minestrons and stews.
• Pasta stuffed: for simple butter, herbal or tomato sauces, in which the filling remains recognisable.

The assignment is an orientation, not a rigid rule. The decisive factor is that noodles and sauce stay together while eating and neither the pasta nor the other ingredients perish.

Cook the noodles correctly and tender but firm

Use a sufficiently large pot and bring the water completely to the boil before the noodles enter. Salt the cooking water and stir especially in the first few minutes so that the noodles do not stick to the bottom of the pot or to each other.

The packing time is a good starting point, but does not replace the tasting. If the noodles then continue to cook in sauce, pan or casserole, take them out of the water a little earlier. So they remain bite-resistant at the end, instead of becoming soft.

Use pasta water for a whole sauce

Starch cooking water combines fat, cheese and liquid. Therefore, remove a cup before draining. First, give little of it to the sauce and complement as needed until it evenly wraps the pasta.

Especially with pesto, carbonara, cheese and butter sauces the temperature is important. Very high heat can make cheese lumpy or eggs dry. Pull the pan off the stove, mix the pasta with sauce and cooking water and adjust the consistency only at the end.

Fast noodle dishes in 20 to 30 minutes

Pasta is particularly suitable for days with little time, because sauce and noodles can be created in parallel. While the water is heated, you prepare vegetables, herbs or other ingredients. Fast options are tomato paste, pesto, Aglio e Olio, lemon paste, mushroom paste or pasta with spinach and cream cheese.

For more substance you complement Vegetables beans, lentils, egg, tofu, Cheeses, fish or meat. Fast Dinner you will find more dishes with short preparation and manageable work steps.

Vegetarian noodle recipes

Vegetarian pasta is varied when the sauce is used as well as texture and a filling component. Roasted vegetables, mushrooms, lentils, chickpeas, nuts, cheese, tofu or egg match tomato, cream, pesto and vegetable sauces.

Rostaromas give vegetables and mushrooms more depth. Roast them with sufficient heat and not too densely pressed before sauce or liquid comes in. Fresh herbs, lemon juice, rucola or a crisp topping are only used shortly before serving. More ideas can be found under Vegetarian dinner.

Pasta dishes with meat, fish or seafood

Minced meat sauce, ragout, chicken strips and bacon fit into more robust pasta forms and strong sauces. First, roast meat in portions to produce roast aromas and then combine it with tomato, broth, vegetables or a creamy sauce.

Fish and Seafood usually need a shorter cooking time. Shrimps, mussels or fish pieces therefore often only come to the sauce when the noodles are almost ready. Lemon, herbs, garlic and tomatoes complement them without covering their taste.

Preparing Nude Run and Lasagna

For Nudelauflauf you cook the pasta shorter than for a directly served dish, because it cooks in the oven. The sauce may be a little more liquid, but should not become watery. Vegetables with a high water content such as zucchini, mushrooms or spinach are first roasted or well squeezed dry.

If the surface becomes dark too early, you cover the shape loosely and let the layers cook completely. After baking, a short rest time helps to ensure that lasagne and casserole can be more cleanly portioned.

Noodle salad fresh instead of dry

For noodle salad, short forms are suitable, which take in dressing and small ingredients. Cook the noodles tender but firm and mix them slightly warm with a part of the dressing if the recipe is provided for it. When cooling, they absorb liquid and spice.

Keep lettuce, fresh herbs, cheese and crispy toppings separated until shortly before serving. Before dressing, check salt, acidity and creaminess again, because cold foods often require a more pronounced seasoning than warm ones.

Asian noodles from wok, pan and soup

Rice noodles, glass noodles, ramen, udon, soba and egg noodles differ significantly in cooking time and texture. Note therefore the package specification and the further preparation. Noodles for wok dishes should not be too soft, because they are later still swivelled with sauce and vegetables in the hot pan.

Prepare sauce, vegetables and other ingredients completely before you heat the wok. In high heat there is little time to recut. First fry solid ingredients, add sensitive vegetables later and mix noodles and sauce until the end.

One-pot pasta without too soft noodles

For one-pot pasta, cook pasta, sauce and other ingredients in a pot or deep pan. The amount of liquid, pot size and heat determine whether the sauce becomes ally or watery. Start with the amount of recipe and keep hot broth or water ready to pour.

Vegetables with a long cooking time come early into the pot, spinach, peas, herbs and cheese usually later. Stir regularly, but not constantly, and leave the dish at the end short. So the sauce can sit down. One-pot arrangements.

Avoid common mistakes in pasta dishes

• Too softly cooked: Try pasta earlier and cook briefly for pan or casserole.
• Sauce does not adhere to: Mix the pasta directly with the sauce and use some cooking water.
• Cheese clumps: Remove the frying pan from strong heat and gradually work in cheese.
• Watery casserole: Fry the vegetables, boil the sauce and drain the ingredients well.
• Noodle salad becomes dry: Keep back part of the dressing and adjust before serving.

Prepare pasta dishes and use leftovers

Sauces, lasagna and nude runs can be prepared in advance. Freshly cooked pasta for a warm dish is best kept together with some sauce so that it does not dry out. Very sensitive herbs and crispy toppings remain separate.

Other noodles can walk in noodle salad, casserole, soup, frittata or a fast pan. Warming helps a small amount of water or broth depending on the sauce. You can find further ideas for cooking with pantry staples under Recipes by ingredients.