Easy pasta recipes

When it comes to pasta recipes, you know we’re bursting with ideas. All of the following can be easily adapted, so use whatever shapes you’ve got, swap fresh ingredients for frozen, and get experimenting with different herbs and spices.

Don’t have any pasta? Try this super-simple method to make your own – all you need is flour, water and a rolling pin!

These are some of our favourite simple pasta recipes, including ideas and swaps to make mealtimes extra exciting.

Use jarred peppers and dried herbs if you don’t have fresh to recreate this colourful dish. Any dried herbs will do.

For this recipe, use jarred or tinned anchovies, and take advantage of any dried chillies you have. Swap the fresh thyme for dried, and use up stale bread to make breadcrumbs. Yum!

You can use any greens in this recipe – try fresh or frozen spinach, Savoy or sweetheart cabbage, even peas would work. Plus, you can leave out the ricotta and just use Parmesan. It’ll taste delicious whatever. In fact, why not make a batch of the sauce and freeze it?

Your freezer is your friend for this family favourite. If you haven’t got peas, experiment with other frozen veg, such as spinach or peppers. Using dried chilli instead of fresh makes this a real store-cupboard saviour.

Jarred green olives are the perfect flavour bomb to add to pasta dishes. If you can’t find passata, you can swap it out for tinned tomatoes – blend them for a smooth sauce, or leave them as they are for added texture.

Using some of the best store-cupboard ingredients, Nonna Teresa’s pasta is a real weeknight winner. You can swap fresh thyme for dried, or give oregano a go. And try some finely grated lemon zest instead of the fresh horseradish.