Pasta & Noodles
1283 recipes found
Spring Chicken Miso Soup
Soup is welcome all year round, but it goes without saying a springtime soup veers lighter, even if the weather is still cool. Fresh green vegetables, like young leeks, peas and spinach, should play a major role. This delicate yet flavorful soup re-works the comforting chicken-noodle concept with a Japanese-inspired ingredient list.
Glass Noodles With Shrimp and Spicy Mustard Sauce
The secret pantry ingredient in this superfast, superflavorful noodle dish is Asian hot mustard powder. Mixed with equal parts water, the golden powder blooms into a pungent, spicy sauce. The noodles can be made a few hours ahead and served chilled or at room temperature. They will develop more flavor as they sit, though you should remove from the refrigerator 15 minutes before serving so that the noodles return to room temperature and soften. Jumbo shrimp cook in just a couple minutes, but precooked shrimp are also a convenient option. Eggs add a nice creamy texture that helps tame the hot mustard.
One-Pot Spanish-Style Shrimp and Chorizo Pasta
Fideos are very thin noodles that are traditionally cooked right in the sauce, allowing them to soak up maximum flavor. Both angel hair pasta and capellini are great substitutes if you don’t have access to Spanish fideos. To create a nutty, smoky layer, the noodles are first toasted with olive oil and chorizo. A good-quality bottled clam juice is important here, since it creates the briny broth that accentuates the shrimp and enhances the overall seafood flavor; the Bar Harbour brand has a very clean and naturally briny clam flavor.
Curry Noodles With Shrimp and Coconut
Here is a quick, zesty summer meal, easy to throw together after a day at the beach. You can use the recipe as a template, substituting chicken, tofu or vegetables for shrimp, if desired.
Creamy Zucchini and Bacon Pasta
Zucchini, bacon and cheese come together to create a delightfully smoky, creamy weeknight pasta meal. Two pounds of chopped zucchini simmer in rendered bacon fat, absorbing the rich and salty-sweet flavors. You can use zucchini from your supermarket, or any combination of summer squash from the farmers’ market, like golden zucchini, crookneck or patty pan. A finish of butter and Parmesan enrich the sauce, adding lusciousness, and a squeeze of lemon brightens the dish.
Shrimp Linguine With Herbs, Corn and Arugula
The beauty of this pasta lies in its ease: Combine fresh, seasonal ingredients and let them shine. Here, shrimp is sautéed in butter until just cooked through, then set aside while the rest of the dish comes together. Peppery arugula, sweet corn and an abundance of fresh herbs round out this easy-to-assemble dinner, which is perfect after a long day at the beach or even just the office. Seared scallops would work well in place of shrimp, or you could try a combination of the two. Herbs, too, are up to you: Basil screams summer, but tarragon and Italian parsley would also be nice. White wine is used to make a light sauce for the pasta; you know what to do with any extra.
Spaghetti al Limone With Shrimp
There are many interpretations of the classic Italian pasta dish, spaghetti al limone, or spaghetti with lemon. Some call for an Alfredo-like sauce made with heavy cream, butter and Parmesan, while others rely on just olive oil, lemon juice, Parmesan and starchy pasta water. This particular recipe, which adds sautéed shrimp, white wine and fresh tarragon to the mix, leans toward the simpler preparation. Without the addition of heavy cream, the sauce has a brighter lemon flavor, which works beautifully with the delicate brininess of the shrimp. Tarragon adds a fragrant note and a bit of complexity to an otherwise fairly straightforward dish. Finally, if there were a time to spring for freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, this would be it. In an uncomplicated recipe like this one, the quality of each ingredient is paramount.
Oden With Homemade Shrimp Balls
Oden is a comforting Japanese one-pot dish in which assorted fish cakes, vegetables, fried tofu and hard-boiled eggs are simmered in a dashi broth. Hondashi, bonito soup stock made from dried bonito and flavors of kombu, is a convenient pantry item that creates instant dashi. Homemade shrimp balls with fragrant ginger, garlic and scallions replace store-bought fish cakes in this version. As they poach alongside earthy mushrooms and daikon, the soup becomes fortified with deep seafood flavor. Inari-no-moto, found canned in most Asian markets, is deep-fried tofu that has been cooked in dashi, soy sauce and mirin until it softens and absorbs the sauce. The tofu adds texture and another layer of seasoning, but the hot pot is just as tasty without. Add udon noodles for a heartier meal.
Shrimp and Tomato Pasta
Frozen shrimp is a freezer staple that can be counted on to save dinner any night — simply thaw to use them whenever needed. Here, shrimp and spaghetti are tossed with juicy cherry tomatoes, which are gently simmered until they burst and turn saucy. This dish is best with ripe, in-season cherry tomatoes, but the aromatic fennel seeds and garlic infused in the oil will coax maximum flavor out of less enthusiastic tomatoes while adding depth to the sauce.
Lemony Pasta With Zucchini and Fresh Herbs
This simple pasta comes together quickly and makes use of what can sometimes be an overwhelming bumper crop of zucchini and other summer squash come August. Browning the squash in two batches is the only semi-fussy request, and it pays off by giving the squash an almost crunchy texture. Lemon and an abundance of fresh herbs provide brightness to this soon-to-be summer staple. Serve it with a tomato and onion salad dressed with plenty of grassy olive oil.
Fettuccine With Zucchini
Beautiful, glossy zucchini from the farm stand are to be treasured. Here they are diced, sautéed until tender, bolstered with garlic, pine nuts and Grana Padano, and mingled with fresh pasta.
Spaghetti With Zucchini, Parsley Pesto and Bottarga
Bottarga, the salted, cured roe of grey mullet or tuna, is a delicacy enjoyed by many. It is especially beloved in Sardinia and Sicily, but is eaten throughout the Mediterranean and around the world. Bottarga has a bright, briny flavor and is used to complement any number of dishes. Here, a simple zucchini pasta with a bright green (cheeseless, nutless) parsley pesto is showered with grated bottarga and crisp bread crumbs. Look for bottarga at Italian shops or online. It’s available grated, but it is better to buy whole lobes and grate your own. Once the package is opened, it will keep for months in the refrigerator.
Lasagna With Spinach and Roasted Zucchini
You may think of lasagna as a rich, heavy dish, but it needn’t be. There’s no need to compensate for the absence of a traditional Bolognese sauce by packing these casseroles with pounds of ricotta and grated cheese. Some of each of those elements is welcome, but I cut the usual amounts by half in this recipe, and it was plenty satisfying. You can get ahead on lasagna by making up big batches of marinara sauce and freezing it, or in a pinch use a good commercial brand. The noodles are no-boil, which really makes these lasagnas easy to assemble. They can be made ahead and reheated, or frozen.
Pasta With Seared Zucchini and Ricotta Salata
My favorite summer pasta toppings split the difference between salad and sauce. They should be chunky and filled with plenty of vegetables and herbs like a pasta salad, yet still be thoroughly seasoned and well integrated. Ideally, the pasta-to-vegetable ratio should be about equal; light, bright and fresh is what I’m after. This recipe is an example.
Pasta With Zucchini, Feta and Fried Lemon
This is a less saucy, more pasta-salad-like pasta, which is to say it’s best served at room temperature after being carted to an outdoor location and eaten directly from the container. The zucchini mixture should be deeply flavorful and concentrated, rather than loose or watery. If you’re looking for something saucier, add more olive oil (not pasta water) as needed to coat each piece of pasta before serving.
Summer Pasta With Zucchini, Ricotta and Basil
A summer pasta should be simple and fresh, ideally made with vegetables straight from the garden or market. Look for the best artisanal ricotta; top-quality ingredients make all the difference here.
Creamy Pasta With Roasted Zucchini, Almonds and Basil
Whole-grain pasta offerings on supermarket shelves have expanded with gusto. Unlike the gluey, good-for-you-but-not-your-tastebuds pastas of yore, the best whole-grain brands are firm-textured and tasty. The warm, nutty flavor of varieties like these is robust enough to stand up to intense, complicated sauces, yet satisfying with just a little butter and Parmesan shaved over the top. Here, pasta with creamy goat cheese and a bite of citrus is enough to keep even the most staunch of whole-wheat opponents satisfied.
One-Pot Orzo With Tomatoes, Corn and Zucchini
This recipe is inspired by the tail end of summer, when fresh produce and herbs abound but the heat waves are finally starting to relent. And while this dish makes a wonderful stage for the season’s produce at its peak, it can also turn sad-looking February vegetables into a sauce that makes it feel like summer. The trick is to sauté the tomatoes slowly, until they’ve collapsed and become deeply sweet and fragrant. The orzo cooks right in the sauce, which cuts down on the dishes and allows the pasta to absorb the flavor as it cooks. If you prefer a larger pasta shape, stick to the traditional method of boiling pasta for best results, and save some pasta water to help loosen the sauce. To get vegetarian recipes like this one delivered to your inbox, sign up for The Veggie newsletter.
Pasta Alla Norma
This traditional Sicilian pasta dish of sautéed eggplant tossed with tomato sauce and topped with ricotta salata makes for a satisfying vegetarian dinner, and it can be thrown together in under an hour.
Pasta With Eggplant and Zucchini
This timeless summer pasta dish was brought to The Times in 1991 by Pierre Franey in one of his 60-Minute Gourmet columns. Like so many of his dishes, it is at once elegant and easy, and no trouble to put together on a weeknight. Sauté the sliced eggplant and zucchini until golden while you make a quick sauce of canned crushed tomatoes, olive oil, garlic and herbs in another pot. Throw everything together, and simmer for about 15 minutes. Toss with cooked pasta and a shower of Parmesan. Dig in.
Eggplant Parmesan Pasta
The unassuming eggplant is the star of this comforting weeknight pasta that manages to capture the flavors of traditional eggplant Parmigiana without the fuss of frying, layering and baking. Cubed eggplant is browned with onion and garlic until golden, then simmered in a quick pantry-friendly tomato sauce until meltingly tender. Mezze rigatoni, fusilli and shells all do great jobs of capturing the thick sauce. The pasta is finished with slivers of fresh mozzarella that soften and offer cool, creamy bites, and a final sprinkling of a Parmesan bread-crumb topping offers familiar moments of crunch to contrast the creamy sauce.
Cheesy Eggplant and Rigatoni Bake
Put on your cozy pants and get comfortable with a giant bowl of this cheesy, eggplant-studded pasta. Don’t be shy about adding plenty of reserved pasta cooking water to the sauce; it's the magical ingredient that creates a silky sauce and keeps the pasta moist while baking. A little grated ricotta salata to finish adds a slight tangy bite that rounds everything out — but, truthfully, more Parmesan or any firm, salted cheese will do.
Pasta Alla Norma Sorta
Say “ciao” to your new pasta alla Norma. This updated version of the Sicilian classic includes prosciutto, which is fried until golden. Its rendered fat is used to start the dish and provide a rich, nuanced flavor, and the cooked bits are used to finish it for a salty crunch. To save on time, the eggplant roasts while a quick sauce of cherry and canned tomatoes, shallots, garlic and chile comes together on the stovetop. Just before serving, the eggplant, pasta and mozzarella (in place of the traditional ricotta salata) are tossed together until melty and delicious. Some rules are worth breaking.
Eggplant and Squash Alla Parmigiana
This parmigiana is well suited to red wine and the brisk weather of late September, when eggplant, zucchini and summer squash are still in the farmers' market. The dish can be prepared in advance and reheated.