10 Delicious Ways to Dress Up Your Pasta (2024)

10 Delicious Ways to Dress Up Your Pasta (1)

If you feel like you’re getting bored with pasta, then you’re at the right place. Let us inspire you with 10 delicious ways to dress up your next pasta dish!

The Plain Jane

10 Delicious Ways to Dress Up Your Pasta (2)

Sometimes less is more. With just a handful of pantry ingredients, you can make a carb-lovers dream of a pasta. Simply cook chopped garlic cloves in a bit of warm olive oil (not hot!), and add cooked spaghetti (reserve some of the cooking water to add later if necessary). Stir to combine and finish off with a handful of fresh chopped parsley, and grated parmesan cheese. Easy peasy and so delicious!

White Wine, Mushroom and Cream

10 Delicious Ways to Dress Up Your Pasta (3)

For this decadent dish, get some white wine ready (some for the dish, some for the glass!). In a saucepan, sauté sliced mushrooms, minced garlic cloves, butter, and some extra-virgin olive oil. Make sure to stir every now and then to prevent the ingredients from burning. Then, add some white wine of your choice to the mix and reduce the sauce. Add cream and heat the mixture gently until it has thickened, still making sure to stir it regularly. Finally, add this mix to your choice of tagliatelle or pappardelle, and sprinkle over freshly grated Parmesan. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Month-end pasta

10 Delicious Ways to Dress Up Your Pasta (4)

With a can of tuna, you can make a gourmet pasta. Warm a few garlic slices and cherry tomatoes in a bit of olive oil, and stir until the tomatoes burst. Add canned tuna (packed in oil) and stir to break up the tuna chunks. Add cooked penne pasta, chopped olives, and a handful of basil leaves. So flavorful!

Quick Chicken Alfredo

10 Delicious Ways to Dress Up Your Pasta (5)

What’s not to love about a good chicken pasta? For this dish, dice up some white meat of rotisserie chicken. In saucepan, melt some butter, then add cream cheese and garlic powder, and whisk to get a smooth consistency. Slowly add about 2 cups of milk while constantly stirring the mix. Stir in some grated Parmesan and black pepper, and remove from the heat. When the sauce has thickened, add the diced chicken and some vermicelli or tagliatelle pasta, and you have just made a super quick chicken alfredo!

Tomato

10 Delicious Ways to Dress Up Your Pasta (6)

Tomato and pasta go together like best friends, and they make a delicious pair! For this pasta, you don’t even need a lot of time at the stove. Simply mix together six fresh tomatoes (diced), crushed garlic, extra virgin olive oil, salt, pepper, and lemon zest. Add tagliatelle pasta and dinner is served!

Shrimp Scampi

10 Delicious Ways to Dress Up Your Pasta (7)

In a skillet, cook approximately a pound of peeled and deveined shrimp, then remove them for later use. In the same skillet, add minced garlic cloves, red-pepper flakes, and white wine, together with some salt and pepper. Cook the mix for a little while, then add butter and the shrimp pieces to heat up. This mix goes well with angel hair pasta. Sprinkle a little bit of chopped parsley over the top.

Bacon and Scallions

10 Delicious Ways to Dress Up Your Pasta (8)

You can almost never go wrong by adding bacon to a dish. Pasta dishes are no exception. For this one, fry a couple of bacon slices in a skillet until crispy. When finished, discard the left-over fat, and add some butter and extra-virgin olive oil to the pan. Then, fry up some sliced scallions. Add shell or penne pasta and finish off with a good deal of shredded Parmesan, salt, and pepper.

Lemony Scallop

10 Delicious Ways to Dress Up Your Pasta (9)

Use this recipe for this super simple pasta dish. First, in a hot pan fry some scallops in extra-virgin olive oil. Next, add this mixture to your hot (and drained) pasta, squeeze lemon juice over the mixture, and finally season with a good deal of white pepper and mix well. If you want to, sprinkle some Parmesan cheese and/or chopped flat-leaf parsley over the top to give it little something extra.

Three-Cheese

10 Delicious Ways to Dress Up Your Pasta (10)

Cheese adds something extra to pretty much any dish, from burger to pizzas and pastas. And, the more the better, both in terms of amount and diversity. For this pasta add about a cup of Emmentaler, your choice of Gruyere or Edam, and mozzarella or fontina to hot tortellini or elbow pasta. Then add good amount of butter, mix well, and season with some black pepper. Add some leftover pasta water if the mix is too sticky.

Puttanesca

10 Delicious Ways to Dress Up Your Pasta (11)

This Mediterranean type pasta dish goes well with vermicelli, and is one of the easiest to make. In a big enough pan, for about 10 minutes simply cook sliced garlic cloves, diced tomatoes, capers, chopped anchovies, sliced green olives, red-pepper flakes, and a little bit of flat-leaf parsley. Viola! Add this mix to the vermicelli and you have a Puttanesca pasta!

Read more on Cookist Wow

Food facts How-to

10 Delicious Ways to Dress Up Your Pasta (2024)

FAQs

How can I make my pasta more delicious? ›

One simple trick to enhance the flavor of pasta is to add a dash of salt to the boiling water before cooking the pasta. This will infuse the pasta with salty flavor and help it to taste better. Additionally, try tossing the cooked pasta with olive oil, herbs, and Parmesan cheese to add more depth of flavor.

What can I add to pasta to make it more interesting? ›

There are some really good ingredients to add to a pasta dish to make it more interesting are as follows: Fresh Herbs: Fresh herbs like basil, parsley, cilantro, or mint can add a burst of fresh flavor to your pasta. Chop them finely and sprinkle them on top just before serving.

How do you dress pasta? ›

Use a large serving fork or a pasta fork to toss the noodles with the sauce. Add a splash or two of the starchy cooking water if necessary to loosen the sauce. Toss gently but thoroughly. The sauce should cloak the pasta like a clingy slip, not an overcoat.

What can I put in pasta if I don't have anything? ›

Garlic butter is a terrific way to season all types of noodles. Simply melt butter and sprinkle in some garlic powder. Toss your spaghetti or favorite type of pasta in this delightful mixture to create a filling and appetizing meal.

How do you make the best tasting pasta? ›

Directions
  1. Only partially cook dry pasta. In a pot of abundantly salted boiling water, cook dry pasta for only half or three-quarters of the recommended time. ...
  2. Add the semi-cooked pasta to a pan sauce. ...
  3. Adjust the thickness of the sauce by adding the reserved water.

How to jazz up boring pasta? ›

Simply cook chopped garlic cloves in a bit of warm olive oil (not hot!), and add cooked spaghetti (reserve some of the cooking water to add later if necessary). Stir to combine and finish off with a handful of fresh chopped parsley, and grated parmesan cheese. Easy peasy and so delicious!

How do you pimp up pasta? ›

Garnish your pasta with a grating of lemon zest, some crunchy breadcrumbs or even a crumble of crispy bacon to add texture and taste. Herb it up. Experiment with lots of fresh herbs in your pasta dishes.

What is the secret to good pasta? ›

Cook your pasta to just before al dente.

Because pasta continues to cook after it's drained, remove it from the stovetop just before reaching the al dente stage. This is super important for thin pastas like angel hair and for pastas that will be baked with a sauce like lasagna.

What is the golden rule for pasta? ›

In Italy, the golden rule for cooking pasta is 1, 10, 100 or 1 liter of water, 10 grams of salt for every 100 grams of pasta. Converted for American cooks, the rule should be 1/3, 3, 30, referring to 1/3 oz of salt, 3 oz of pasta and 30 oz of water.

What should you not put in pasta? ›

DON'T add oil to your cooking water

All this does is prevent your sauce from sticking to your pasta. If you cook your pasta in enough water as I mention in the first point, your noodles will not stick together.

Can you add anything to pasta? ›

Add any aromatics, hardy vegetables, or raw meats that you like, as well as any dried herbs. Turn the heat on medium high and bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Cook at a fast simmer for two minutes short of the cooking time listed on the pasta package.

How do you add flavor to bland pasta? ›

Here's what you do to make bland pasta better:
  1. Add salt. Well, duh. ...
  2. Grate lots of Parmesan or Pecorino into a bowl. ...
  3. Grind some pepper over it.
  4. Sprinkle some red pepper flakes over it.
  5. Give it a drizzle of olive oil.
Jul 23, 2007

How do you make pasta from a jar taste better? ›

13 Ways to Make Any Jarred Pasta Sauce Better
  1. Start with the right pasta and sauce. ...
  2. Season with dried herbs. ...
  3. Or flavor with fresh herb sprigs. ...
  4. Double up on tomato goodness. ...
  5. Add more garlic and/or onions. ...
  6. Sweeten and thicken with squash purée. ...
  7. Punch things up with a pinch of chili flakes. ...
  8. Try this secret ingredient.
Dec 9, 2022

Top Articles
Creamy Chicken and Dumpling Soup Recipe | Sur La Table
29 Healthy And Easy Spiralizer Recipes (+Tips)
Matgyn
Noaa Charleston Wv
CLI Book 3: Cisco Secure Firewall ASA VPN CLI Configuration Guide, 9.22 - General VPN Parameters [Cisco Secure Firewall ASA]
Occupational therapist
Kokichi's Day At The Zoo
Voordelige mode in topkwaliteit shoppen
Craigslist Motorcycles Jacksonville Florida
Retro Ride Teardrop
Canelo Vs Ryder Directv
Boat Jumping Female Otezla Commercial Actress
Ohiohealth Esource Employee Login
Jet Ski Rental Conneaut Lake Pa
Webcentral Cuny
Race Karts For Sale Near Me
Mahpeople Com Login
Airrack hiring Associate Producer in Los Angeles, CA | LinkedIn
The Blind Showtimes Near Amc Merchants Crossing 16
A Biomass Pyramid Of An Ecosystem Is Shown.Tertiary ConsumersSecondary ConsumersPrimary ConsumersProducersWhich
Samantha Aufderheide
‘The Boogeyman’ Review: A Minor But Effectively Nerve-Jangling Stephen King Adaptation
Exl8000 Generator Battery
Jcp Meevo Com
Koninklijk Theater Tuschinski
2023 Ford Bronco Raptor for sale - Dallas, TX - craigslist
Ascensionpress Com Login
Kuttymovies. Com
Paradise Point Animal Hospital With Veterinarians On-The-Go
Solo Player Level 2K23
Hoofdletters voor God in de NBV21 - Bijbelblog
Ucm Black Board
Xfinity Outage Map Lacey Wa
Fox And Friends Mega Morning Deals July 2022
Envy Nails Snoqualmie
Exploring TrippleThePotatoes: A Popular Game - Unblocked Hub
Instafeet Login
Vivek Flowers Chantilly
Cal Poly 2027 College Confidential
Hometown Pizza Sheridan Menu
Emulating Web Browser in a Dedicated Intermediary Box
Wasmo Link Telegram
boston furniture "patio" - craigslist
Fairbanks Auto Repair - University Chevron
Portal Pacjenta LUX MED
Wgu Admissions Login
Motorcycles for Sale on Craigslist: The Ultimate Guide - First Republic Craigslist
Sitka Alaska Craigslist
Sml Wikia
Access One Ummc
Haunted Mansion Showtimes Near The Grand 14 - Ambassador
Comenity/Banter
Latest Posts
Article information

Author: Domingo Moore

Last Updated:

Views: 6304

Rating: 4.2 / 5 (53 voted)

Reviews: 92% of readers found this page helpful

Author information

Name: Domingo Moore

Birthday: 1997-05-20

Address: 6485 Kohler Route, Antonioton, VT 77375-0299

Phone: +3213869077934

Job: Sales Analyst

Hobby: Kayaking, Roller skating, Cabaret, Rugby, Homebrewing, Creative writing, amateur radio

Introduction: My name is Domingo Moore, I am a attractive, gorgeous, funny, jolly, spotless, nice, fantastic person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.