Donna Knowlton of Atlanta, Georgia, writes: "As the oldest of five children growing up in rural West Virginia, I was always helping in the kitchen. Today I mostly cook pasta and seafood dishes because they're so easy. My husband is a doctor and works long hours, but we still like sharing a meal at the end of the day. I don't want to be in the kitchen late at night making something complicated, so I rely on dishes that can be ready in minutes."
This marinara sauce is great tossed with any pasta for a quick and easy weeknight dinner that will leave you thinking, “Why didn’t anyone try this sooner?”
In this lasagna, soft layers of pasta and béchamel are interspersed with a rich tomato sauce laden with hearty Mediterranean vegetables.
Spaghetti is a common variation in modern Thai cooking. It’s so easy to work with and absorbs the garlicky, spicy notes of pad kee mao well.
Cajun-Creole shrimp is combined with a light cream sauce, and two together are off-the-charts delicious. It’s full of flavor without being too spicy.
This pasta has some really big energy about it. It’s so extra, it’s the type of thing you should be eating in your bikini while drinking a magnum of rosé, not in Hebden Bridge (or wherever you live), but on a beach on Mykonos.
An ex-boyfriend’s mom—who emigrated from Colombia—made the best meat sauce—she would fry sofrito for the base and simply add cooked ground beef, sazón, and jarred tomato sauce. My version is a bit more bougie—it calls for caramelized tomato paste and white wine—but the result is just as good.
Cabbage is the unsung hero of the winter kitchen—available anywhere, long-lasting in the fridge, and super-affordable. It’s also an excellent partner for pasta.
You can consider this recipe a template for creating a gooey, cheesy instant ramen dish with an appetizing golden crust in the oven.