The Best Pasta Recipes for Comfort Dinners
Some nights, you're in the mood for a 20-minute pasta dish. Other nights, you're in the mood for a slow cooker or baked pasta dish. Recipes featured in this article include chicken Alfredo tagliatelle, linguine Alfredo with spicy roasted tomatoes, two lasagna recipes, baked chicken and broccoli Alfredo, Marry Me Chicken Pasta, and Italian meatball soup. These are all good meal ideas if you want different preparation times.
Why These Pasta Dishes Are Good Choices
- Weeknight Pasta Dishes: Creamy chicken tagliatelle and linguine with chicken are two fast and easy pasta dishes to make; tagliatelle with chicken can be ready in about 20 minutes.
- Hands-Free Recipes: Slow cooker lasagna is a hands-free alternative to traditional lasagna. Baked Alfredo lasagna and traditional lasagna are good meal planning options that require more time to prepare.
- Preparation Advantages: Spicy chicken pasta can be made with the chicken in advance. Sauce and pasta can be added later.
- Easy Cleanup: The chicken and broccoli baked pasta recipe cooks pasta and broccoli in the same dish. The Dutch oven meatball soup recipe is designed for quick cleanup.
1. Crispy Chicken and Tagliatelle Alfredo with Parmesan Cream Sauce
Dinner will be ready in about 20 minutes. We offer crispy panko chicken and tagliatelle noodles topped with a Parmesan Alfredo sauce. Minced garlic cooked in olive oil is stirred into the sauce. Pasta cooking water is added to the sauce to make it easier to coat the noodles without other preparation. The chicken is coated with an egg and water mixture and dried bread crumbs made from panko for a crunchy texture. The second pan is used to cook garlic in olive oil and add liquid cream. Cook the cream and add Parmesan cheese and pasta water to make a sauce for the cooked tagliatelle. Cook the pasta according to package instructions. Look for chicken that is golden brown on both sides and cooked through. Reduce heat to prevent over-browning of breaded chicken. Alfredo sauce is cooked when it is evenly colored and coats stirred pasta on low heat. Failing to add pasta water to the Alfredo sauce or boiling the Alfredo sauce may change the taste and texture of the final dish. Serving: Serve breaded chicken alongside or mixed with Alfredo-tagliatelle dishes. Fresh herbs can be used as a garnish. Storing leftovers: Keep tagliatelle and leftover breaded chicken separate to preserve the breaded texture. Tagliatelle may need to be stirred gently when reheated because the sauce thickens as it sits.
2. Tony Bennett’s Mother’s Lasagna With Cinnamon-Spiced Meat Sauce
For a large family or holiday meal, this lasagna recipe for 12 serves uses tender noodles baked with a rich tomato sauce and ground beef and Italian sausage mixtures as well as ricotta and Pecorino Romano cheeses. A small amount of cinnamon added to the sauce gives it additional flavor. Layers of cheese in the lasagna firm up for slicing. Ground beef and Italian sausage are ingredients in the sauce. Onions, garlic, plum tomatoes, tomato paste, and tomato puree are used to thicken the sauce. Fresh basil, salt, pepper, and cinnamon are added to the sauce while it simmers. Ricotta and eggs are mixed to make the filling. Grated Pecorino Romano cheese is added between noodle layers and on top of the dish. Mozzarella is an optional ingredient in the assembled dish. The sauce at the edges and on the casserole's surface should boil, and the top should be slightly golden in a properly baked casserole. Check that no noodle layers are visible at the edges or anywhere else to keep the noodles from drying out. Drain the ricotta cheese if it seems wet. Let the casserole stand for about 10 minutes before serving to set the layers. Serve hot with garlic toast or bread to dip in the sauce. Possible side dishes include Caesar salad and a fresh lettuce and cucumber salad. Other recommended side dishes for rich sauces include roasted garlic broccoli, roasted zucchini, sautéed spinach with garlic and olive oil, and lemon green beans.
3. Chicken and Broccoli Alfredo Bake with Homemade Alfredo Sauce
This chicken and broccoli Alfredo casserole makes eight servings. The recipe is simple to make and prepare. I cook the pasta and broccoli at the same time in one pot and cook the Alfredo sauce in a separate pot while they cook. I include cooked chicken in the casserole when baking and top it with mozzarella cheese to heat the sauce and brown the cheese. Cook penne al dente, since it will cook more in the oven. Add broccoli to the pasta for 3 minutes at the end of the cooking process. Drain thoroughly. For the sauce, sauté garlic for 1 minute. Simmer the cream. Lower the heat and gradually stir in freshly grated Parmesan cheese. Add nutmeg, salt, and pepper. A 9×13-inch baking dish can hold the recipe. I suggest adding Panko bread crumbs for a crunchy topping, but the recipe can be made without them. Penne pasta can help catch plenty of sauce. I suggest taking the casserole out of the oven when the sauce is bubbly and the topping is golden brown and letting it sit for 5-10 minutes before serving to prevent serving just sauce. After adding sauce to the pizza, use a spatula to push the sauce to the outer edges of the pan before adding other ingredients. Ensure the sauce is distributed around the entire pizza, not just in the middle, to avoid areas of the pizza without sauce. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. The edges of the pizza should be bubbling, and some browning should appear on the cheese.
4. Slow Cooker Lasagna with Lean Ground Beef and Creamy Ricotta Layers
Choose a lean, flavorful ground beef option, such as 97/3 ground beef, for your slow cooker sauce to prevent excessive fat in the layers of your lasagna. The Slow Cooker Lasagna recipe includes browned ground beef marinara sauce and other ingredients layered with dry lasagna noodles for a dish that is easy to cut and serve. It has tender noodles, ricotta cheese filling, oregano-seasoned meat sauce, and mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses. The sauce recipe calls for sautéing white onion and garlic in a pan without cooking them thoroughly and adding browned beef seasoned with salt, pepper, and oregano. Marinara sauce and water from the jar can be added to a pan to make a thinner sauce to moisten dry pasta. Ricotta mixed with egg, mozzarella, Parmesan, and other ingredients can be spooned over or between layers of pasta. When cooking on LOW, test noodles for doneness and presence of fully covered sauce on all noodle layers. Ways to prevent overcooked or dry noodles: Cover noodle edges and other noodle pieces around the sides of the slow cooker with sauce. Ways to prevent overcooked or dry noodles: Add noodles before other ingredients. Add too many layers of noodles. Add too little sauce. Fail to cover the noodles with sauce. Allow refrigerated lasagna to rest at room temperature for 10 minutes before serving with a green salad, garlic bread, roasted vegetables, or extra Parmesan cheese. Cover and refrigerate leftover lasagna to prevent layer separation. Serve leftover lasagna after fully reheating.
5. Spicy Chicken Pasta With Creamy Tomato Sauce and Smoky Paprika
This spicy chicken linguine recipe yields 2 servings and can be prepared in advance: Season and cook the chicken. Save for later. Prepare the sauce and pasta. Serve the full dish for medium spicy chicken with a smoky paprika taste and pasta topped with tomato sauce and sliced chicken cooked against the grain. Olive oil, smoked paprika, cayenne pepper, salt, and black pepper are used as a rub on butterflied chicken breasts. Sauteed butter, onion, garlic, red pepper flakes, and sun-dried tomatoes are used as a sauce ingredient for the chicken, and dry white-wine reduction, tomato puree, chicken stock, and heavy cream are added for sweet and sour flavors. Linguine with Parmesan cheese and parsley is served with the chicken. The linguine sauce is made with chicken stock and heavy cream. Search for cooked and colored onions, fully reduced wine, and sautéed tomato paste for two minutes. Add stock and cream. Let the sauce simmer and thicken as pasta cooking liquid is added with tongs. One common error people make when cooking this dish is overcooking the sauce with pasta; add pasta cooking liquid to the sauce to help thin it. Serve with extra Parmesan cheese and parsley if desired. Offer garlic bread on the side. Set aside pasta cooking water to use as needed to serve the planned number of pasta dishes. This is the preferred way to make pasta sauce that thickens when pasta is tossed with the sauce or allowed to sit for a brief period before serving.
6. Marry Me Chicken Pasta with Sun-Dried Tomatoes and Parmesan
Peel the chicken breasts to reduce cooking time and make the chicken main dish in Marry Me Chicken Pasta. Other dish ingredients include rigatoni pasta and a creamy sun-dried tomato and garlic sauce with Parmesan cheese and optional red pepper flakes for a slightly spicy flavor. A seasoned flour blend of Italian herbs, onion powder, garlic powder, and paprika is used to coat chicken. Drain oil from sun-dried tomatoes before adding them to the pan. Heavy whipping cream and chicken broth are used as ingredients in the sauce. Seasoned flour is mixed into the sauce and added to the pan with the chicken to coat rigatoni in a Parmesan-thickened sauce. Browned chicken can be removed from the skillet, leaving other browned foods in the skillet to season the sauce. Add garlic directly to the skillet and cook only until fragrant; do not brown or burn garlic. Allow the pasta and chicken with sauce to simmer uncovered to thicken the sauce and coat the rigatoni; the sauce may be too thin if not simmered long enough. Serve the pasta hot with Parmesan cheese mixed through as directed. Refrigerate leftovers in an airtight container for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 2 months. Cream sauce may separate when reheated. When reheating leftovers, add a small amount of milk and stir.
7. Creamy Italian Meatball Soup with Spinach and Parmesan
This Italian meatball soup with cream sauce takes 1 hour to make and cleans up quickly when cooked in a Dutch oven. I cook this Italian meatball soup with cream sauce on weekdays as an easy weeknight dish that includes browned meatballs, tomato broth, and spinach. You only need one pot, a Dutch oven. I mix the meatball ingredients until combined and form 1-inch meatballs, stopping before completely mixing the ingredients to avoid tough meatballs. I brown meatballs in batches, leaving browned bits in the pan. I stir the browned bits and chicken broth into the tomatoes with a spoon to add flavor to the sauce. The cream is stirred in after taking the soup off the heat and ending the boil. I heat the cream by stirring in some of the soup broth, then stir in the spinach to wilt. If you're also adding pasta, I recommend using a short pasta and cooking it during the last 10 to 12 minutes of the soup cooking time or until it's al dente. Hot soup with extra Parmesan cheese and parsley is suggested. Suitable dippers include garlic bread and other types of hard rolls. A green salad with oil and vinegar dressing would pair well with soup for a full meal. To serve the meal in advance, cook the pasta separately and add it shortly before serving to avoid soggy pasta.
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