What to make tonight
14 pasta recipes for dinner
For a fast dinner, make pesto pasta, carbonara, or linguine with clams. When you want the pot to stay on the stove awhile, there are three meat ragùs and a short-rib lasagna that has never heard the phrase ‘quick weeknight meal.’
Updated September 3, 2026 · 14 recipes
The useful part
What should I make?
Fastest
Twenty-five minutes and very little argument from the sink.
Best restaurant mood
Thirty-five minutes of work, plus time for the clams to soak.
Best creamy pasta
Calabrian chile cream, sausage, mushrooms, and mandatory breadcrumbs.
Best all-afternoon project
Five layers and a four-hour cook time. Nobody said this was Tuesday food.
A useful pasta list should tell you more than which sauce is red and which one is creamy. What matters at 6:30 is whether you have 25 minutes, whether anybody objects to clams, and how strongly you feel about washing a second pan.
These recipes run from a four-ingredient pesto pasta to fresh ravioli with chanterelles and truffle. Most sit happily in the middle: special enough to look forward to, but not so elaborate that dinner starts at 10 p.m.
01 · about 25 minutes
Pesto Pasta
Short, twisty pasta catches basil pesto better than a smooth noodle ever will. Loosen the sauce with pasta water until it looks glossy, then stop before the basil sees direct heat.
Get the recipe →02 · about 25 minutes
Tricolor Pasta
Fresh tricolor ribbons in a smooth tomato-cream sauce with basil and Parmesan. It looks like company pasta but takes about 25 minutes once the water boils.
Get the recipe →03 · about 30 minutes
Mezzi Paccheri Carbonara with Guanciale
Guanciale, egg, Pecorino, and black pepper coating thick tubes of mezzi paccheri. Keep the pork a little chewy and mix the sauce away from direct heat.
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04 · about 1 hour 5 minutes
Linguine with Clams
Pale noodles, small live clams, white wine, parsley, and enough broth to drag each forkful through. Buy the smallest clams you can find so they open quickly and stay tender.
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05 · about 40 minutes
Dungeness Crab Linguine with Fennel and Sprouts
Sweet Dungeness crab goes in at the end, because it is already cooked and cost too much to simmer into submission. Crisp fennel keeps the bowl from feeling heavy.
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06 · 40 minutes
Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo
A proper Parmesan cream sauce, sliced chicken, and fettuccine with enough pasta water to stay silky. It has all the comfort of dining-hall Alfredo and none of the dining hall.
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07 · 45 minutes
Creamy Calabrian Rigatoni with Chicken Sausage
Calabrian chile cream clings to rigatoni with browned chicken sausage, mushrooms, and spinach. The pecorino breadcrumbs catch the sauce in some places and stay crisp in others.
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08 · about 40 minutes
Spicy Rigatoni with Sausage and Pancetta
Vodka sauce with pancetta, hot Italian sausage, and enough red pepper to earn the name. Reserve more pasta water than you think; this sauce tightens quickly.
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09 · about 50 minutes
Spaghetti ai Frutti di Mare
Clams, mussels, shrimp, and calamari make tomato spaghetti feel like dinner out. Clean every piece of seafood before the stove goes on because the cooking happens fast.
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10 · about 1 hour
Rigatoni with Bolognese-Style Meat Sauce
A pale, meat-forward Bolognese-style sauce with less tomato than you expect and milk to round out the beef. Every ridge of the rigatoni gets its share.
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11 · about 1 hour 15 minutes
Tagliatelle with Meat Ragù
Wide egg noodles with a thick beef-and-pork ragù that tastes slow-cooked without taking the entire day. Give the sauce an hour and keep it meat-forward.
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12 · about 90 minutes
Bucatini with Beef-and-Pork Ragù
A 90-minute ragù with tiny crumbles of beef and pork and just enough sauce to coat hollow bucatini. This is the middle ground between weeknight pasta and Sunday sauce.
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13 · about 1 hour 50 minutes
Ricotta Ravioli with Chanterelles and Black Truffle
Fresh ravioli filled with thick ricotta, then finished with chanterelles and truffle. Drain the ricotta overnight; wet filling is how the first raviolo becomes a cautionary tale.
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14 · about 5 hours 15 minutes
Braised Short Rib Lasagna with Italian Sausage
Five layers of pasta, short-rib and sausage ragù, herbed ricotta, provolone, and Parmesan. Braise the beef ahead if you would like to eat before bedtime.
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Frequently asked questions
Before you start cooking.
What pasta can I make in 30 minutes?
Pesto pasta, tricolor pasta, and mezzi paccheri carbonara all take about 30 minutes or less. Linguine with clams needs about 35 minutes of active work, plus 30 to 60 minutes for the clams to soak.
Which pasta recipes are best for a dinner party?
Linguine with clams, spaghetti ai frutti di mare, fresh ricotta ravioli, and short-rib lasagna all feel occasion-worthy. Lasagna is the easiest to assemble ahead; seafood pasta should be cooked close to serving.
What pasta sauce can I make ahead?
The Bolognese-style sauce and all three meat ragùs improve after a night in the refrigerator. The short-rib lasagna can also be assembled ahead. Pesto, carbonara, and clam sauce are better made just before eating.
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