Recipe Roundup: Easy Winter Pastas (2024)

FAQs

What can I put on pasta to make it taste better? ›

I have made pasta dishes with broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, Brussels sprouts, tomatoes, zucchini, yellow squash, corn, peppers, arugula, spinach, kale, peas, onions, garlic, beets and carrots.

Cheese is an excellent way to add flavor to your pasta without having to rely on sauce. Try mixing your angel hair pasta with goat cheese, and toss in sun-dried tomatoes to make an amazing meal with just a few ingredients. Garlic butter is a terrific way to season all types of noodles.

When pasta is cooked in water, its starch granules take on water, swell, soften and release some of the starches, Harold McGee writes in “On Food and Cooking.” “Salt in the cooking water not only flavors the noodles, but limits starch gelation and so reduces cooking losses and stickiness,” he says.

These easy pasta recipes rely on ingredients you've likely got stowed in your pantry—olive oil, beans, tomatoes, tuna, olives—along with staple ingredients like lemons, garlic butter, Parmesan, and more garlic.

Add some mix-ins

Now's the time to get really creative with your pasta. Add in some chopped olives or jarred tapenade, quartered artichoke hearts, or sun-dried tomatoes in oil, capers, sliced pickled chiles or roasted red peppers, drained canned tuna or other tinned seafood.

Olives and capers add a punch of briny goodness and give tomato sauce some real personality. Toss in some chopped or whole, pitted olives and/or a handful of drained capers after heating the sauce for several minutes. Or, if you're adding garlic or sautéed vegetables, add to the sauté just before you pour in the sauce.

Almost anything can be “spaghetti sauce”. Personally, I like chili and a big handful of cheddar cheese. If chili isn't your style, garlic, sautéed in olive oil, some freshly ground black pepper and a generous sprinkling of Parmesan cheese always does the trick.

Substitute Tomato Paste For Tomato Sauce

If you have a can of tomato paste in your pantry, you are in luck—this is the best substitution for tomato sauce. All you need is the tomato paste and water. Mix together 1 part tomato paste and 1 part water until well blended.

Can I use tomato sauce instead of pasta sauce? ›

Tomato sauce works well for spaghetti and meatballs and in lasagna, but has many other uses as well—such as on chicken cacciatore, eggplant or chicken parmesan, and as a base for eggs in purgatory or shakshuka.

Shilpa explains that making fresh pasta all comes down to knowing one ratio of flour to water, specifically two parts flour to one part water by weight. For you bread heads out there, yes, that means 50% hydration, or 100 grams of flour to 50 grams of water.

But sauce isn't the only option you can turn to -- cooking your pasta in milk can give your dish a uniquely luscious, creamy texture. Mac and cheese is a prime example of a dish you can try this with, as the water-to-milk swap creates a more efficient cooking process with a richer sauce.

Herbs and Spices: Add a variety of herbs and spices to enhance flavor. Common choices include basil, oregano, thyme, rosemary, and a pinch of red pepper flakes for some heat. Fresh herbs can bring a burst of freshness to the sauce. Tomato Paste: Stir in a tablespoon or two of tomato.

"I use a lot of parsley, either fresh or even dried," Montillo said. "Oregano, garlic powder, onion flakes, black pepper all work well in a variety of sauces."

Add 1 stick of unsalted butter to cooked pasta; toss well to coat. Mix in 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese and season with salt and pepper. Garnish with more grated cheese and minced flat-leaf parsley.