Pasta is always a family favourite when it comes to meal times, so you’ll be pleased to know that this month you’ve got an excuse to have it more than usual. It’s national pasta month!
You all know the classic pasta dishes like spaghetti Bolognese, macaroni cheese, lasagna etc. But here are a few pasta recipes that you might not have tried yet. And don’t worry, they’re all super healthy.
Pepperoni pasta salad
This is a light dish, full of flavour, and you’ll feel great about yourself after eating it. It takes around 20 minutes to prepare.
Ingredients
- 400g pasta (tricolour pasta makes this dish look even more delicious)
- 150g sliced pepperoni
- 200g cheddar cheese, cut into cubes
- 1 finely chopped cucumber
- 1 small tomato, chopped
- 2 green onions
- 225ml Italian salad dressing
Method
- Cook your pasta and when soft, drain and rinse under cold water. Then place the pasta in a bowl.
- Add the rest of your ingredients to the bowl and mix through, so that the ingredients are evenly spread through the pasta.
- Add the salad dressing and toss to coat.
- This can now be covered and refrigerated, and then served when needed.
Bacon and pumpkin pasta
Pumpkin is the flavor of the season, so this recipe make a good Autumn meal, and it should only take 35 minutes to make!
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- Chopped pancetta or bacon (as much or as little as you fancy)
- 1 small onion, thinly sliced
- 25g butter
- 500g pumpkin, deseeded and diced
- 20g shredded sage
- 400g pasta shells (you can choose a different shape if you’d prefer)
- 25g grated Parmesan (plus a little extra for sprinkling on top)
Method
- In a saucepan, heat the oil and then add the bacon or pancetta. Cook for a few minutes and then add the thinly sliced onion. Keep cooking until the onion is cooked and the bacon/pancetta is nice and crispy.
- Next, you want to add the butter and stir it in, then add the pumpkin and sage. Mix it all up and then cook for a further 5-8 minutes, or until the pumpkin is soft. You don’t want the pumpkin to be falling apart though.
- Cook your pasta shells in boiling salt water until soft, then drain and add the pumpkin mixture.
- Stir in the 25g grated Parmesan and serve.
Once served you can add any extra Parmesan, sprinkled over the top, and seasoning.
Whole wheat spaghetti with lemon, basil and salmon
If you’re looking for a dish that’s going to impress, this is it. Pasta dishes are often quick, throw-together meals, but this meal is dinner party worthy and not even that difficult to make!
Whole wheat spaghetti is one of the healthiest pastas there is, with more natural benefits than normal refined pasta, and with lemon, basil, and salmon, this dish has everything you could want, health-wise, from a meal. And it only takes 20 minutes to make!
Ingredients
- 300g whole wheat spaghetti
- 1 clove of garlic, crushed
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon of salt
- 1/2 teaspoon of ground black pepper
- 4 pieces of salmon
- 30g chopped basil leaves
- 1 lemon, zested
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 100g fresh baby spinach leaves
Method
- Cook the whole wheat spaghetti in salted water. Then drain and place in a large bowl.
- Add the extra virgin olive oil, the garlic, salt and pepper and then toss to mix through./li>
- Warm the olive oil in a skillet, whilst seasoning the salmon with salt and pepper./li>
- Add the season salmon to the skillet and cook for about two minutes on each side, or until medium rare. Cooking times may vary depending on how thick your salmon pieces are./li>
- Add the lemon zest and juice, the spinach and basil to the spaghetti and serve./li>
- Place a salmon piece on each plate and then season to taste./li>
Courgetti and spaghetti with goats cheese
No, that’s not a spelling mistake, we really do mean courgetti. So what is it? Exactly what it sounds like! Spaghetti made form courgette. Vegetable pasta is becoming more popular everyday, and it’s incredibly healthy. If you haven’t yet tasted vegetable spaghetti, or more specifically courgetti, this is the perfect dish for a first taste.
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 thinly sliced or chopped red onions
- 1 crushed garlic clove
- 150g spaghetti
- 250g courgetti spaghetti (you can easily find this in shops but if you’d rather you could always make this at home fairly easily)
- 1 tbsp dried crushed chillies
- 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 50g soft goats cheese, crumbled
Method
- Fry the onions with the olive oil for 20 minutes, adding the garlic after 10 minutes. Stir regularly.
- Whilst the onions are cooking, start cooking the spaghetti in a saucepan with boiling salt water. Cook for 10 minutes, or until spaghetti is soft, then drain and return to the pan, reserving around 2 tbsp of the water.
- Add the chillies and vinegar to the frying pan with the onions and garlic and cook for a further minute or so before the courgetti and taking off of the heat.
- With the pan off of the heat, cover it and leave it to sit for 5 minutes, so that the steam can wilt the courgetti.
- Now add the spaghetti and the courgetti, onion and garlic mix together with half of the goats cheese.
- Serve into bowls, and scatter the rest of the goats cheese on top of each serving.
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