4 servings
I’ve made this with lots of different pasta shapes—little stars, tiny elbows, ditalini, tiny wagon wheels—so use whichever you like or have on hand. In a pinch, you can even break a handful of spaghetti into small pieces if you don’t have any short-cut pasta on the shelf. It’s a perfect portable dish, a nice choice if you want to make something to take to a party or a new neighbor.
1 cup pastina (or any small pasta)
2 tablespoons olive oil
½ cup cubed chicken breast (1-inch cubes)
½ cup diced onion (about ½ small onion)
1 garlic clove, minced
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, with juice
1 cup shredded mozzarella
¼ cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
¼ cup bread crumbs
¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, cut in small pieces, plus more for buttering the baking dish
Preheat the oven to 400°F.
Bring a medium pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until just tender, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Drain the pasta and transfer to a large mixing bowl.
Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a medium sauté pan over medium heat. Add the chicken and cook for 3 minutes. Add the onion and garlic, stirring to combine, and cook until the onion is soft and the chicken is cooked through, about 5 minutes more. Add the chicken mixture to the bowl with the drained pasta, then add the canned tomatoes and their juice, mozzarella cheese, parsley, salt, and pepper. Stir to combine.
Butter an 8 × 8 × 2-inch baking dish and spread the pasta in the prepared dish. In a small bowl, mix together the bread crumbs and the Parmesan cheese. Sprinkle over the top of the pasta. Dot the top with small bits of butter. Bake until the top is golden brown, about 30 minutes.
6 servings
For this dish, be sure to use the vacuum-packed type of gnocchi, not those that come hard and dry in a box, as they are full of preservatives. You can also buy fresh gnocchi at many specialty food shops, or even
make your own
, though that’s not really necessary for this dish. It’s a little spin on the basic gnocchi dish that’s also a really colorful meal-in-one, packed with spinach and cheese.
2 (17-ounce) packages potato gnocchi
3 cups heavy cream
1 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
¼ cup all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
12 ounces baby spinach
3 ounces fresh goat cheese
½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Preheat the oven to 400°F.
Place the gnocchi in a lightly greased 9 × 13 × 2-inch baking dish. Set aside.
In a medium saucepan, whisk together the cream, chicken broth, and flour over medium heat. Continue whisking until the sauce is simmering and thickened, about 5 minutes. Add the salt, pepper, and nutmeg and stir to combine. Add the spinach and toss to coat in the cream. Pour the cream and spinach mixture evenly over the gnocchi and gently spread the spinach out to cover.
Crumble the goat cheese over the spinach. Sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese. Bake until the top is golden in places, about 30 minutes.
5:
on the lighter side
People are always asking how I can cook the way I do and not gain weight. The truth is that if I ate fettuccine carbonara or a big plate of baked manicotti every night, I probably would; fortunately, so many of my favorite pastas are light, filled with vegetables and loaded with flavor. These are the recipes I turn to in the summer months, when the farmer’s market is loaded with beautiful produce that needs very little beyond a sprinkle of fresh herbs, a little grated cheese, and some freshly cooked pasta to make a completely delicious meal. Linguine with Butter, Pecorino, Arugula, and Black Pepper is probably the fastest pasta dish you can make, but it is full-flavored and delicious, with a nice, peppery kick from the arugula, cheese, and freshly ground pepper. I particularly like to pair pasta with fish and seafood because they both cook so quickly and their light textures don’t weigh me down. If you’re looking for fast and fresh, you’ll find a treasure trove of recipes here.
6 servings
Simple, simple, simple, but so good—this is truly one of the fastest dishes you can make, and one of the best.
1 pound linguine
¼ cup (½ stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1¼ cups very finely grated Pecorino Romano cheese
1½ teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
1 cup coarsely chopped arugula
Salt, to taste
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the linguine and cook until it is al dente, stirring frequently, about 8 minutes. Drain, reserving 1½ cups of the pasta water.
Immediately toss the hot pasta in a large bowl with the butter to coat. While tossing the linguine, gradually sprinkle the cheese, pepper, and enough of the reserved pasta water evenly over the linguine to moisten. Add the arugula and toss to combine. Season the pasta with salt. Divide the pasta among 6 plates and serve.
No-Cook Pasta Sauces
When it’s hot outside, the idea of turning on the stove to do more than boil water for pasta is just not appealing. On days like those I like to toss cooked pasta with a fresh sauce that requires no cooking at all! You can use raw or leftover cooked or roasted vegetables, herbs, cheese, even bits of cooked meat; just make sure there is enough liquid to moisten the pasta, whether it’s oil, juice, broth, or a splash of the pasta cooking water. Here are some of my favorite “raw” sauces:
• Toss the ingredients of a caprese salad (fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, basil, a little chopped garlic, extra-virgin olive oil, and salt and pepper) with cooked pasta in any shape or size, and voilà! Dinner is ready.
• Whisk together lemon juice, lemon zest, grated Parmesan, extra-virgin olive oil, and salt and pepper in a serving bowl. Add freshly cooked capellini and toss.
• Combine chopped kalamata olives, capers, chopped arugula, extra-virgin olive oil, and salt and pepper in a bowl. Toss well with cooked pasta and sprinkle with grated Pecorino cheese.
• I love the convenience of rotisserie chickens. I like to shred the meat and toss it with cooked pasta, some chicken broth, and a bit of pasta water, extra-virgin olive oil, salt and pepper, some toasted pine nuts, and Parmesan cheese for a quick weeknight meal. Add spinach or arugula leaves for color.
• For the simplest, quickest pasta meal, combine small bits of butter, grated Parmesan, and chopped herbs like parsley or basil in a bowl with hot cooked pasta; it is comforting and super easy.
