Midweek meals: 5 pasta recipes to make for dinner tonight

Ready in minutes, pasta is the ultimate quick and easy meal no matter the season or the weather

Pasta Puttanesca. Picture: Bríd O'Donovan

Spaghetti with nduja, lemon and fennel

recipe by:Colm O'Gorman

This is a simple sauce to prepare, if you get your ingredients ready in advance you will be able to cook it up in the ten minutes it takes to cook the spaghetti

Servings

2

Preparation Time

 5 mins

Cooking Time

 10 mins

Total Time

 15 mins

Course

 Main

Ingredients

• 300g cherry tomatoes

• 2 tbsp olive oil

• 2 cloves of garlic

• 50g nduja

• 1 lemon

• 1 tsp fennel seeds

• 40g freshly grated Parmesan

• 2 tbsp cream cheese

• A handful of fresh basil

• 160-200g dried spaghetti

• Salt and ground black pepper

Method

1. Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil. While you are waiting for it to boil, cut the cherry tomatoes into halves, lightly toast the fennel seeds in a dry pan and peel and thinly slice the garlic cloves. Add the spaghetti to the pan of boiling water and cook it for eight to ten minutes, until it still has just a little bite. While it is cooking you can prepare the sauce. Grate half of the parmesan and set aside. You will use the rest just before serving. I use a vegetable peeler to shave the rest of the parmesan into curls which taste and look great on top of the finished dish. You can do that just before serving it up.

2. Heat a heavy based frying pan over a high heat, add the olive oil and when it is hot and shimmering, the chopped cherry tomatoes. Turn the heat down to medium and cook the tomatoes for three to four minutes until they soften and begin to break down just a little. Add the sliced garlic and cook it for another minute or two. Lightly crush the fennel seeds in a mortar and pestle or a spice grinder, and sir them in. Add the juice of the lemon and a good grind of black pepper. Pick about half of the basil leaves and set them aside. Chop the rest of the basil, including the stalks and stir the chopped herbs into the sauce. Cut up the nduja and add that to the pan. Stir it in, keeping the heat low, you just want to simmer the sauce so that the nduja cooks down.

3. By now your spaghetti should be almost cooked, so dip a mug into the pan and scoop out some of the starchy pasta water and set it aside.

4. Add the cream cheese to the sauce and stir until it is well combined. Check your pasta now, it should be ready. Drain it and return it to the pan. Add a little splash of olive oil and toss the pasta to stop it getting sticky. Add the grated parmesan cheese to the sauce, stir it in and if it is getting as little too thick, add some of the reserved pasta water to the pan, stirring it in until you get the correct consistency. Taste the sauce and now add more salt if needed. Toss the spaghetti in the sauce and serve it up on pasta bowls or plates, with the rest of the basil leaves and the parmesan shavings scattered on top.

Prawn linguine with red, yellow and orange peppers

recipe by:Currabinny Cooks

A true meal in minutes, full of good-for-you ingredients

Servings

2

Preparation Time

 10 mins

Cooking Time

 15 mins

Total Time

 25 mins

Course

 Main

Ingredients

• 10 fresh king prawns, peeled

• 3 large bell peppers, one of each colour except for green

• 2 garlic cloves, finely diced

• 1 red chilli, finely diced

• handful of cherry tomatoes, mixed heirloom preferred, halved or quartered

• large handful of chopped parsley

• juice of 1 lemon

• 280g Linguine

• 2 tbsp olive oil

Method

1. Cook the pasta according to the packet instructions in generously salted water, until al dente.

2. Remove the stalks and seeds from the bell peppers and chop the flesh into a fine dice.

3. In a large frying pan, heat the oil on a medium high heat and add the diced peppers, chilli and garlic.

4. Sautee for six to eight minutes, stirring regularly until the ingredients are fragrant and softened. Be careful not to let the garlic burn. Add the prawns and cook for a further three minutes until they are pink. Next, add the tomatoes, season with salt and pepper and cook on a medium heat for another three to five minutes.

5. Add a little pasta water to make it more saucy if you wish before adding the drained pasta, stirring it well into the sauce.

6. Mix through the lemon juice and chopped parsley, check for seasoning and serve.

Charred corn salad with courgette, orzo and goat's cheese

recipe by:Currabinny Cooks

Make the most of fresh corn with this warm salad

Servings

2

Preparation Time

 15 mins

Cooking Time

 10 mins

Total Time

 25 mins

Course

 Starter

Ingredients

• 2 ears of corn, grilled until moderately charred

• 1 medium courgette, sliced into medium slices at an angle

• 200g orzo

• 60g mayonnaise

• 3 tbsp fresh lime juice

•  ½ red onion, very finely chopped

• ½ tsp medium chilli powder

• good handful of chopped coriander

• 100g fresh, crumbly goat’s cheese like St Tola or Ardsallagh

• salt

• pepper

Method

1. Cook the orzo in salted boiling water as per packet instructions until a little more cooked than ‘al dente’. Drain, and place in a bowl to cool. Drizzle with a little olive oil and mix into the grain of orzo so prevent it all sticking together.

2. Grill the courgette slices on a medium hot grill pan with a little olive oil, seasoned lightly with salt and pepper. Don’t over-grill them to the point that they become too soft or fall apart, you want them still with a little crush, charred lightly by the grill pan. Set the grilled courgette to the side to cool.

3. Grill the corn on the same grill pan. Brush them with a little olive oil and turn them often. When cooked, set aside to cool a bit until you can handle them. When they are cool enough to handle, slice the kernels off by holding the cobs upright and cutting downwards, all around the cob until all the kernels are off.

4. To make the dressing, combine the mayonnaise, red onion, chilli powder and lime juice in a small bowl, whisking well and vigorously to combine.

5. Combine the orzo, courgette and corn in a large bowl along with the mayonnaise dressing, making sure all the ingredients are coated. Season with salt and pepper. You may need to add a little more lime juice. Arrange the the salad on a large platter with the goat’s cheese crumbled over and coriander leaves, chopped and sprinkled on top.

Penne alla vodka

Created in Italy or New York City, this dish is an instant classic

Servings

4

Cooking Time

 20 mins

Total Time

 20 mins

Course

 Main

Ingredients

• Olive oil

• 1 onion, finely sliced

• 2 cloves of garlic, minced

• ¼ tsp dried chilli flakes (more if you wish)

• 4 tbsp vodka

• 1 tin cherry tomatoes

• 150ml double cream

• 350g penne

• Parmesan, grated

• Basil, to serve

•  

Method

1. In a heavy-based saucepan, fry the onion, garlic and chilli over a low heat for five minutes until softened. Stir in the vodka and bring to a boil. 

2. Once reduced by half, stir in the cherry tomatoes, smashing the tomatoes with your spoon. At this point, put your pasta on to boil. Stir in your double cream, season with salt and pepper and bring to a simmer, cooking slowly for ten minutes. Before serving, add a tablespoon of pasta water to your sauce and toss the pasta through. 

3. Serve with Parmesan and fresh basil leaves. 

Pasta puttanesca

recipe by:Currabinny Cooks

Whatever the true origins of puttanesca, it is one of the most flavoursome and lip-smacking sauces made almost entirely from store cupboard ingredients.

Servings

4

Preparation Time

 5 mins

Cooking Time

 12 mins

Total Time

 17 mins

Course

 Main

Ingredients

• 8 anchovy fillets, finely chopped

• 3 cloves of garlic, crushed

• Good pinch or two of chilli flakes

• 1 tin of plum tomatoes

• 2 tablespoons of capers

• Handful of flat-leaf parsley, chopped

• 200g of pitted Kalamata olives

• Olive oil

• Sea salt and black pepper

• 500g dried pasta ( fusilli or penne)

Method

1. Put the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water over medium heat. While the pasta cooks, heat some oil in a large frying pan over medium low heat.

2. Add the anchovies, garlic and chilli flakes, cooking for a few minutes until everything is bubbling and fragrant. Add a spoonful of pasta water to the pan and turn up the heat slightly. Add the olives, capers and tin of plum tomatoes. Let the contents of the pan bubble away, stirring everything together until well combined.

3. When the pasta is al dente, drain and set aside. Leave the sauce to bubble away for 10 minutes until slightly thickened and the plum tomatoes start to pop and fall apart. Season with sea salt and plenty of black pepper. tip the pasta into the sauce and toss well so that the pasta is well coated in sauce. Scatter the chopped parsley over and serve.