Last-minute pasta recipes

By Rheanna Kish and The Canadian Living Test Kitchen

Forget stopping at the store. Pull together a satisfying pasta dinner using what you already have on hand.

Last-minute pasta recipes

Rotini with Sausage Eggplant Sauce
Photography by David Scott

Pasta pointers

  • Have sauce almost ready before cooking pasta. Most hot pasta dishes do not wait well.
  • Pasta should move while it cooks so as not to stick together. Allow about 4 cups (1 L) water for about every 4 oz (125 g) of pasta. Stir often until water returns to boil that’s hard enough to move pasta.
  • Adding salt to water is optional.
  • Cooking time begins when pasta and water return to boil.
  • Cook pasta until al dente, or tender but still firm. To test, remove a piece to taste.
  • Drain pasta very well. Any liquid left on it dilutes the sauce.
  • To replace dried pasta with fresh, use about one-and-a-half times the quantity called for, cooking for 1 to 3 minutes.
Stock up for pasta
With these ingredients on hand, a satisfying pasta meal is just a toss away.
  • Roasted red peppers in jar
  • Sun-dried tomatoes
  • Onions and garlic
  • Chicken and/or vegetable broth
  • Olive oil
  • Milk or evaporated milk
  • Canned clams, tuna, salmon and anchovies
  • Cans of tomatoes, tomato sauce and tomato paste
  • Bottles of tomato purée
  • Olives and artichokes
  • Dried and regular mushrooms
  • Fresh herbs, such as parsley
  • Bacon, pancetta and prosciutto
  • Frozen scallops or shrimp