Last-minute pasta recipes
Rotini with Sausage Eggplant Sauce
Photography by David Scott
- 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.
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
Recipes
-
Garlic Shrimp Spaghetti
Start to cook the shrimp as soon as the pasta goes into the water. Then the sauce will be ready as soon as the pasta is drained. You can substitute so... -
Rotini with Sausage Eggplant Sauce
This chunky, richly flavoured sauce heats up well again as leftovers. If you like it spicy, add a pinch of hot pepper flakes. -
Tuna Nicoise Pasta
For the best results and tastiest dish, look for good-quality canned tuna fillets that have been packed in oil. -
Artichoke Pesto Linguine
This fresh pesto comes together in minutes while the pasta is cooking. Its light taste and spring-green colour brightens up any table. Since you need ... -
Stove-Top Macaroni and Cheese
This quick sauce comes together as the pasta cooks to make a dish that's heaps better than any boxed variety. For the best flavour, use extra-old Ched... -
Penne with Tomato Lentil Sauce
Look for dried green lentils in bulk and specialty food shops. They are smaller than the more common brown lentil and have exceptional flavour and tex...
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