20 Pasta Recipes to Try at Home: 3 Tips for Cooking Pasta

There’s an art to cooking pasta—all it requires is paying close attention to a few key details.

1. 1. Use the right pot. Pasta expands when it cooks, and though a small pot of water may look like enough for that little box of pasta, you’ll need a bigger pot to prevent boiling water from cascading over the sides. Give your pasta breathing room, and go big from the start.
2. 2. Salt the water. Seasoning the pasta water is the first step towards a well-seasoned final dish. As pasta cooks, it absorbs the salt, which enhances its flavor from the inside out. Aim for two tablespoons of kosher salt for every one gallon of water, and add the salt just as the water is coming to a boil. Adjust the salt content based on the saltiness of your sauce.
3. 3. For the best pasta, don’t drain. Before the pasta reaches your preferred texture, use tongs to transfer the pasta directly to your warmed sauce on the stove. Pasta water is full of flavor and starch, and half a cup of it will work wonders on even store-bought sauce. As the pasta finishes cooking, it will help soak up the sauce directly into the noodle itself.

Dried pasta is an essential pantry staple for a good reason: It keeps for a long time. Here’s how to store fresh or dried pasta:

• Fresh pasta: This type of pasta has a short shelf life—usually about two days in the refrigerator. However, you can extend the shelf life of fresh-cut pastas, like fettuccine, by air-drying or freezing the pasta. You can buy special pasta drying racks, or you can dry strands in little nests on a baking sheet.
• Homemade dried pasta: Homemade dried pasta will keep in an airtight container for up to one month. You can also freeze pasta on a sheet pan and then transfer it to an airtight container or plastic bag. Frozen pasta will keep for up to two weeks and does not need to defrost before cooking, making it a great weeknight dinner option.
• Store-bought pasta: Keep store-bought pasta sealed in its original packaging or, if you prefer, in an airtight container. Dried pasta will last up to two years.

Learn to make homemade pasta dough, and the ritual will quickly become second nature.

1. 1. Basic homemade pasta dough: Making pasta by hand is relatively easy and involves only about thirty minutes of active working time. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to make homemade pasta.
2. 2. Chef Thomas Kellers’s homemade pasta dough: Transform Chef Keller’s simple egg pasta dough into a variety of filled and cut pastas. He uses 00 flour, which is similar to all-purpose flour: Double-zero flour has a finer consistency and the right amount of protein for pasta-making. Achieving the right dough consistency is more important than following exact measurements because there are many variations in the moisture of the flour and the air around you, and the quality of the eggs.
3. 3. Chef Gordon Ramsay’s homemade pasta dough: Making pasta dough can be intimidating but satisfying. Chef Gordon Ramsay says, “If it’s a ravioli, or a tortellini, lasagna, cannelloni, tagliatelle, spaghetti—whatever you want, that dough is the base. That is it. That’s your passport to great Italian dishes.” Gordon recommends making his homemade pasta dough on a cold surface such as marble.
4. 4. Vegan pasta dough: Traditional pasta dough calls for different flours, water, olive oil, and an egg; vegan pasta dough skips the egg. Most dry boxed pasta in grocery stores is vegan, but making fresh eggless pasta dough is simple. Both homemade and store-bought versions use semolina flour—the coarse, milled flour of durum wheat— which helps create elasticity in the pasta due to its rich gluten content.

These vegetarian pasta recipes feature classic Italian ingredients, such as Parmesan cheese, quality olive oil, and tomatoes:

1. 1. Asparagus pasta: Pasta with fresh asparagus is a classic, Italian-inspired meal that combines fresh, tender asparagus with pasta, olive oil, and Parmesan cheese. Whether you’re cooking up a hot bowl of asparagus pasta or making a cold pasta salad with fresh vegetables, it’s important to consider the shape of the pasta. Short shapes like rigatoni, penne, and orecchiette work best for this easy pasta recipe.
2. 2. Cacio e pepe: A classic combination of cheese and pepper, cacio e pepe is a creamy pasta and likely the basis for Italian-American iterations like Alfredo sauce. To make the dish, melt Parmesan or pecorino cheese directly into butter, and season with a few generous cranks of black pepper. This easy recipe works best with long noodles, like spaghetti or bucatini.
3. 3. Fettuccine alfredo: ​​Homemade Alfredo sauce is easy to whip up at a moment’s notice: All it takes is a stick of butter, Parmesan cheese, and some salt and black pepper. Alfredo sauce also makes a great addition to shrimp pasta or chicken pasta: Simply add cooked shrimp for shrimp Alfredo or cooked and sliced chicken to create chicken Alfredo.
4. 4. Gnocchi pomodoro: Pomodoro is a tomato-based pasta sauce made from a combination of fresh tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, and fresh basil. “Pomodoro” translates to “golden apple,” a nod to the yellow tomatoes that the sauce traditionally featured, which looked somewhat like apples. This sauce pairs perfectly with gnocchi, a soft dumpling made from potatoes, or gnudi, made with ricotta cheese.
5. 5. Lasagna: This traditional Italian main dish consists of alternating layers of long, flat pasta noodles, tomato or cream sauce, and cheese (mozzarella, Parmesan, or ricotta, or a combination of all three). Lasagna may also include layers of sautéed vegetables or ground meat, like beef or lamb. Boil the pasta before assembly, and then bake the entire dish in the oven.
6. 6. Lemon pasta: Known in Italy as pasta al limone, this velvety and bright lemon pasta recipe has a simple list of ingredients (including garlic, lemon, and Parmesan cheese) to highlight its citrus flavors. Heavy cream balances the acidity in the lemon sauce. Serve this dish as a main course or side dish using long pasta like spaghetti, linguine, fettuccine, or capellini.
7. 7. Macaroni and cheese: This one-pot pasta dish is comfort food for many. Skip the boxed varieties and pair elbow macaroni pasta with a velvety Mornay sauce and a crunchy top layer of breadcrumbs for the best macaroni and cheese you’ve ever had.
8. 8. Mushroom pasta: Multiple dishes share the name “mushroom pasta,” but the terminology usually describes an Italian dish made with a long noodle, like linguine or fettuccine, served in a creamy sauce with sautéed mushrooms, such as shiitake, cremini, or oyster mushrooms.
9. 9. Pasta e fagioli: Pasta e fagioli, or pasta and beans, is an Italian bean soup traditionally considered a peasant dish due to its humble list of ingredients: cannellini beans, Italian soffritto, stewed tomatoes, ditalini pasta, olive oil, and garlic. While minestrone, another hearty soup with Italian roots, typically features additional ingredients—like Italian sausage or veggies like zucchini—pasta e fagioli is slightly more minimalist.
10. 10. Pesto pasta: True pesto features fresh basil, garlic, olive oil, pine nuts, and cheese pounded together into a thick, green paste. Other varieties feature leafy greens like kale or carrot tops. (The word “pesto” means “pounded” in Italian.) For hundreds of years, Italians made pesto by crushing these aromatic ingredients together with a mortar and pestle. Nowadays, it’s far more common to use a blender or food processor. Longer noodles like spaghetti, bucatini, or tagliatelle are traditional choices for pesto sauce.
11. 11. Spaghetti aglio e olio: Aglio e olio, literally “garlic and olive oil in Italian,” is a simple, aromatic pasta dish that you can enhance with various other ingredients, like fresh chopped herbs, red pepper flakes, or toasted nuts. When all you have in your pantry is spaghetti and garlic, make Chef Thomas Keller’s stunning spaghetti aglio e olio.
12. 12. Spaghetti and red sauce: Chefs serve this Italian pasta sauce over cooked spaghetti noodles. To make spaghetti sauce, also known as marinara sauce, cook chopped fresh tomatoes in olive oil with garlic, oregano, and red pepper flakes. A quick purée turns the sauce smooth and a little soupy; leaving it chunky lends a more rustic texture, with the tomatoes tender but intact.

Incorporating meat into pasta can be as simple as melting anchovies into a sauce or as involved as making meatballs from scratch. Here are some of the best-known and best-loved meaty pasta dishes:

1. 1. Bolognese: Bolognese is the international name for ragù alla Bolognese, a long-simmering Italian meat sauce traditionally used for lasagna and tagliatelle. The sauce starts with a base of soffritto—aromatic vegetables such as onion, carrot, and celery—cooked in olive oil until soft. Ground or diced meat, usually beef and pancetta, make up the body of the sauce, with wine, chicken stock, and tomato puree forming the braising liquid. Serve ragù alla Bolognese with wide, flat pasta such as lasagna, tagliatelle, and pappardelle. Outside of Italy, Bolognese sauce usually refers to spaghetti sauce plus ground meat.
2. 2. Carbonara: Spaghetti alla carbonara is an Italian pasta dish made with egg, cheese, and crispy pork belly. To make the dish, combine al dente pasta with raw egg yolks, grated cheese, and a little reserved pasta water to make a sauce that coats the hot pasta strands as it cooks. The addition of tiny cubes of guanciale, or cured pork jowl, adds a crispy pop of flavor to the carbonara sauce.
3. 3. Frutti di mare: Frutti di mare is a classic Italian pasta dish that pairs shellfish’s bright, briny flavors with a light tomato sauce. It often features a medley of seafood, including shrimp, mussels, scallops, clams, and squid cooked in a garlicky, sometimes spicy marinara sauce. Typically made with long pasta like spaghetti, linguine, fettuccine, or angel hair, frutti di mare highlights the fresh seafood found along the Italian coast.
4. 4. Pasta al forno: Pasta al forno is a saucy, savory baked pasta with many variations. In Italian, “al forno” (which translates directly as “to the oven”) simply refers to any dish baked in the oven. Pasta al forno often features short pasta mixed with rich, meaty tomato sauce and melted mozzarella. Common variations on pasta al forno include lasagna and baked ziti.
5. 5. Spaghetti alla puttanesca: Puttanesca is the sauce in the classic Italian dish spaghetti alla puttanesca. The sauce contains tomatoes, olives, capers, extra virgin olive oil, and garlic. It’s a simple pasta sauce that traditionally accompanies spaghetti, but you can pair it with other common noodles—like linguine, penne, or vermicelli noodles.
6. 6. Spaghetti alle vongole: This famous clam pasta dish comes from Naples, Italy. It features fresh clams and noodles tossed in white wine and briny clam liquor. Garlic, red pepper flakes, and a garnish of parsley add bite to rich spaghetti alle vongole.
7. 7. Shrimp scampi: Classic shrimp scampi traditionally features fresh shrimp cooked in a sauce made with butter, garlic, olive oil, dry white wine, crushed red pepper flakes, and spritzes of lemon juice. Serve shrimp scampi on a bed of linguine.
8. 8. Tortellini en brodo: Tortellini is a ring-shaped stuffed pasta from the Italian region of Emilia. Chefs traditionally stuffed tortellini with meat and served it in broth (brodo). This pasta shape is sometimes confused with the slightly larger tortelloni, which usually gets filled with cheese and served in a butter sauce.

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