30-Minute Weeknight Pasta: A Method, Not a Recipe

A repeatable formula for fast pasta dinners from the pantry — pick a pasta, a fat, an aromatic, a sauce and a finish.

Pasta is a formula, not a recipe

Once you see weeknight pasta as a formula, you stop needing recipes. Boil pasta; meanwhile build a quick sauce from pantry staples; combine. The variables are simple — a pasta shape, a fat, an aromatic, a sauce element and a finish — and they're all in the cupboard.

The five-part formula

• Pasta: any shape (match ridged or tubular to chunky sauces)
• Fat: olive oil or butter
• Aromatic: garlic, onion, chili or anchovy
• Sauce: canned tomatoes, passata, tuna, beans, or just pasta water
• Finish: cheese, herbs, lemon, a drizzle of oil

The method, step by step

• Boil salted water and cook the pasta to al dente
• Meanwhile warm the fat and cook the aromatic gently
• Add your sauce element and simmer while the pasta cooks
• Reserve a cup of pasta water, then drain
• Toss pasta and sauce in the pan with pasta water, finish and serve

Mix-and-match ideas

Garlic, oil, chili and parsley make aglio e olio. Tomatoes, garlic and basil make a quick sugo. Tuna, capers, olives and tomato make a pantry puttanesca. Beans, garlic, rosemary and pasta water make pasta e fagioli. Same method, different pantry items.

Tips

• Salt the water well — it seasons the pasta
• Always save pasta water; the starch makes a glossy sauce
• Finish cooking the pasta in the sauce for the last minute
• Keep a few shapes on hand so you're never stuck

Weeknight pasta, made simple

Learn the formula and dinner is twenty minutes away from a stocked cupboard. A box of Unico pasta and a can of tomatoes are the start of a hundred meals.