Pasta & Other Noodles

My favorite section.

A Very Easy Macaroni and Cheese

You can make this more interesting any number of ways, but I also think it’s fine to let this be what it is: a really, extremely, very simple and easy way to make a classic macaroni and cheese that tastes very close to the box, as fast as possible.

Tomato Pasta with Eggplant and Sausage (on the side)

Decidedly a tomato pasta with eggplant and not an eggplant pasta

Spring Pasta with Peppered Peas

The goal is a sort of spring-y Alla Gricia (pork fat + lots of black pepper + spring vegetables), so this pasta is ideally made with guanciale, green garlic, pea shoots and fresh peas. But know that even if made with olive oil, regular garlic, arugula and frozen peas, it’ll still be so lovely.

Pasta with Sausage, Browned Butter and Broccoli Rabe

This is a simple recipe, but an important one. Take the measurements and ingredients with a grain of salt, knowing that at the end of the process you should end up with a skillet of saucy, porky pasta laced with as many greens as it can handle.

Spicy Seafood Pasta with Fennel

At its core, this is a light breezy pasta made with caramelized fennel and juicy, fresh tomatoes—already wonderful—but yes, there is also seafood.

Roasted Eggplant Pasta with Parmesan Breadcrumbs

This is not necessarily a quick recipe, because almost nothing involving eggplant is “quick,” but that’s okay. Some things, like a bowl full of pasta that tastes like Eggplant Parmesan, are worth it..

Baked Shells

Less intensely indulgent than classic Baked Ziti and a lot less fussy than lasagna, in my old age this is sort of the only baked pasta I’m making these days. It’s got all the hits: pasta, cheese, sauce, but feels casual in a way that makes it possible to throw together for dinner tonight.

Lemon Pepper Pasta with Browned Butter

While “lemon” and “pepper” are the two primary flavors here, this pasta really does taste enough like cacio e pepe to hit many of the same pleasure receptors as excellent boxed macaroni and cheese.

Alison's Bolognese

If you’re looking for a different kind of winter cooking experience, may I interest you in the rewarding act of slowly cooking a bolognese for a few hours? This classic-ish sauce will offer warmth and comfort on the dark, cold days you need it most.

Fresh Tomato and Fennel Pasta

The goal for the sauce is to have bits of tomato floating in a juicy, almost jammy sauce for the pasta to finish cooking in. Fennel seed, when used here in conjunction with crushed red pepper flakes and garlic, has the ability to turn this sauce into something vaguely resembling sausage.

Pasta Amatriciana

Amatriciana is one of the four Roman pastas (along with Cacio e Pepe, Carbonara and alla Gricia). It’s the only one of the four to use tomato product.

Pasta Salad with Peas and Parmesan

This pasta salad is destined for summer potluck stardom. It gets better as it sits, and is beloved by all.