Seven delicious and simple pasta recipes

Jump to category:

published 22 October 2021

1. Puglian lentils, tomatoes and mixed vegetable ragu

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Skin the aubergines and cut them into 1cm cubes
Dice the onions and chop the carrots/celery into small cubes
Prepare the lentils
Bring a pan to boil and salt generously (with approximately 35-50g of salt per litre of water)
Add the garlic oil to another pan and sauté together for 5-10 minutes with the onions/carrots/celery until golden
Add all the pasta water into the same pan, followed by the aubergines and lentils, and season generously with salt and pepper
Cook on high heat for 10-15 minutes until there is little to no water left and the vegetables are cooked through
Add the tomato sauce, all the dried oregano, a few shakes of the cayenne pepper and cook for another few minutes until the mixture thickens and all flavours have mixed properly. Then lower the heat and let it all cook slowly
Add the pasta into the other pan with salted boiling water and cook until it is nearly al dente (it is important to take the pan out before it is fully al dente as the pasta will finish cooking itself in the sauce)
Add the cooked rigatoni pasta in and mix until the sauce covers it from all sides (add more pasta water in if it’s too dry)
Slice the cherry tomatoes into four and cut the peppers into thin, short slices a few minutes before serving
Garnish each dish with cherry tomatoes, sliced peppers, parsley and a grind of black pepper

For the croûtons, brush the sourdough slices with oil, cut them into squares and then pan-fry until crisp. Set to one side
Cook the pasta in lightly salted boiling water according to the packet instructions. Drain while reserving a little of the cooking water
Fry the roasted vegetables in olive oil until warmed through. then add the thyme leaves
Remove from the heat and stir through the ricotta and lemon zest
Add the pasta and the reserved water to loosen everything
Crumble in three-quarters of the Roquefort and stir.
Season with black pepper and serve in warm bowls with the remaining crumbled Roquefort and the croutons on top

In a dry pan, lightly toast the pine nuts until they gain a golden-brown colour. Once toasted, be sure to transfer them onto a cold plate so they don’t continue to cook and burn
Weigh out all the ingredients for the pesto and place them one by one into a food processor or blender
Firmly close your blender and blitz momentarily until all the ingredients are thoroughly combined
Don’t blend for too long, as you want your pesto to have a slightly rough, grainy texture
Cook your pasta in a large pot of salted water according to packet instructions. Check the pasta a good two minutes before the end of the cooking time to ensure it is perfectly al dente
While the pasta is cooking, half the cherry tomatoes along the equator and place them a large bowl with the pesto
Once the pasta is cooked, transfer it into the bowl with the pesto and tomatoes, tossing it to ensure it's fully coated
If you like an extra citrus kick, cut a lemon in half and squeeze a little of the juice into the pasta and mix
Season with salt and pepper then sprinkle over the remaining pine nuts. Add a generous handful of grated parmesan on top and serve immediately

Cook the pasta according to the packet instructions until al dente (usually a minute or two less than suggested), then drain and reserve a ladle of pasta water
For the pesto, add all the ingredients (aside from the spring onions) to a food processor or blender and pulse until combined. You may need a touch more oil
Fold through the pasta along with the spring onions and enough cooking water to make a silky coating
Serve immediately, with some toasted seeds sprinkled on top

Cook potatoes in salted water until tender
Put potatoes on a baking tray & dry in the oven at 150 degrees for ten minutes
Mash the potatoes using a ricer
Mix in the nutmeg, parmesan and egg yolks. Add salt and pepper to taste
Sift in flour and knead softly
Roll out adding a little more if the dough is too wet
Once rolled out into thin sausages, cut into 3cm little pillows
Bring water to a boil. Drop the gnocchi in and remove once they float to the surface
Using a slotted spoon, place in a bowl filled with ice water to cool down

Peel and finely dice the onion and two cloves of garlic. Pour 2 tbsp of oil into a large saucepan followed by the onion and garlic and place on medium heat
Gently fry the onion and garlic for five minutes, until the onion begins to go soft and translucent
Crumble the stock cube into the pan and pour in 600ml of water - this needs to be precise!
Turn the heat up to high and tip in 200g of pasta. Turn the heat down and simmer with a lid for 14-16 minutes, stirring every 3-4 minutes. Just before the pasta is cooked, add 300g of peas and cook them in the sauce until the pasta has softened and peas are tender
Season with salt and pepper then finely chop 10g of parsley, grate 100g of Italian hard cheese and stir in three quarters of each. Stir in 150g of crème fraiche
Divide the pasta between two plates and top with 20g of flaked almonds, leftover cheese and reserved parsley

Bring a pan of salted water to a boil and add the linguine. Cook the pasta in a pan with a little salt for 6-8 minutes or until al dente
While the pasta is cooking, place a large frying pan over a high heat. Add the butter, garlic and thyme sprigs and fry for a minute or so until the butter has turned slightly golden and is foaming.
Add the mushrooms to the pan and sauté for 2-3 minutes until they are evenly coated in the butter and just tender
Remove the stalks of thyme, add the lemon juice and a generous sprinkling of seasoning and toss together
Drain the pasta and return to the pan, tossing through a generous glug of olive oil.
Tip the mushroom and brown butter mixture into the pasta and toss together really well to evenly combine all of the ingredients
Taste to check the seasoning and serve with freshly grated parmesan and a sprinkling of chopped parsley

Explore More