Pasta & Noodles

If you’ve spent even a little time poking around the bread baking world, you have likely heard the name Peter Reinhart. As an instructor at Johnson and Wales and the author of several books on bread baking, he has built a career out of his love for bread!Our fellow Kitchn writer Dana recently sent us a link to Reinhart’s talk on “What Makes Bread So Special?” from the Taste3 Conference last July. This talk sums up everything we love about both Reinhart and baking bread!

Last week, we talked about how starches are used to thicken sauces, puddings, pie fillings, and soups like the one above. This week, we’ll check out the different kinds of starches that get used in cooking and why you might choose to use one over the other…Starches can vary widely in terms of how quickly they thicken, how much they thicken, the quality of the thickening, and their flavor after thickening.

Susan is looking for some clarification on types of cornmeal. Can we help her out?I have a burning question! What is the difference between corn meal and polenta? Can I use regular corn meal (the stuff I use to make corn bread) to make polenta? Or do I have to track down a box that is specifically labeled “polenta”? And for the trifecta, what is masa harina? Could I use that to make polenta, or just tortillas?Susan, this is a great question and a tough one to answer.

You’ve heard us say it again and again: always cook pasta in a large amount of well-salted boiling water until al dente. But when it comes to pasta saladsFor pasta destined for a picnic salad, we like to do two things:1. Cook it in even more heavily salted water.2. Cook it just a little beyond al dente. When cooking pasta for salad, we usually double the amount of salt we normally put in the pasta water, adding roughly 4 tablespoons of salt for 4 quarts of water.

I was at my boyfriend’s mother’s house the other day when she eagerly showed us a huge, heavy box of noodles she had purchased at her Korean church. These special noodles resembled buckwheat soba, but they contained an unusual ingredient – acorns!Korean acorn noodles, or dotori guksu, are made from a mixture of acorn flour, buckwheat or wheat flour, and salt. The acorn flour is ground from red or white acorns, which have been eaten in Korea since Neolithic times.

Confession: we’re trying valiantly to overcome an aversion to wheat bran. Thanks to one-too-many encounters with dense tasteless homemade bran muffins in our younger years, this is definitely an uphill battle (sorry, Mom!).But we’re intrepid cooks and willing to be convinced! How do you use wheat bran in your cooking?Wheat bran comes from the dense, outer hull of the wheat grain and is a by-product of making wheat flour.

Pumpernickel, noun – An incredibly dense and strongly flavored dark bread made with a blend of coarse and fine rye flour originating in Germany.We love the heartiness and deep, almost bitter flavor of pumpernickel bread, especially with a little sharp cheese melted over the top! Making an authentic loaf of pumpernickel is one of our winter goals, plus we think it would look lovely on our Thanksgiving table!Do you like pumpernickel bread? Ever made it yourself?

We made a big batch of enchiladas over the weekend, but somehow we still have about a dozen corn tortillas leftover. Have any suggestions for what to do with them?At this point, we’re thinking of freezing them until the next time we get a craving for Mexican food. You can freeze tortillas separated by wax paper so that it’s easy to take out only the number needed, and we’ve heard that they re-heat well just in a dry skillet.

As kids, a bowl of mac and cheese just seemed to taste better if the pasta was in the shape of our favorite cartoon character. As adults…well…we still love pasta that comes in silly shapes! What about you?Besides the fun shapes, we actually really like the texture of pasta like this. Because all the little corners and joints take a bit longer to cook, the outside parts get really soft. Every bite is a little squishy and a little chewy!

Some of us probably learned the hard way that it’s a good idea to stir pasta once or twice after dropping it in the boiling water – a congealed hockey puck of half-cooked pasta is not generally what we intended for dinner! But have you ever wondered why this happens? Or why it’s a good idea to stir pasta?The way we see it, stirring pasta is a good idea for two reasons. First of all, dried pasta has a tendency to sink to the bottom of the pan right after you add it.

Pasta with basic tomato sauce is a weekly — ok, sometimes nightly — occurrence in our house. To keep things interesting, I’ll finish the sauce off with…well, whatever happens to be in the fridge! Here are a few of my favorite finishing touches for a simple bowl of pasta. I use these add-ins to finish quick stove-top tomato sauces all the time, but they can work well with just about any sauce you’re making, or even become the sauce itself.

We never even considered milling our own grain until we started doing a lot more multi-grain baking and cooking. Those quinoa and spelt flours get expensive! It sure would be nice to buy the whole-grains or nuts for these flours in bulk and grind them ourselves at home. Do any of you do this?We’ve been using our food processor to do some very basic milling. Pour in the nut or grain, give it a few good pulses, and manage to get a fairly decent flour.

We’ve been doing a lot of baking with whole grains recently, and we see one technique pop up again and again. This is the idea of soaking the grains overnight before using them in the recipe. When it came up again in the comment thread for our Homemade Soba Noodles, we thought it was high time to learn more.

It feels counter-intuitive to add water to a sauce in order to thicken it, but this trick works! As any Italian home cook will tell you, just a little starchy cooking water gives the sauce extra body and an almost creamy mouthfeel. Have you ever tried this?All we do is dip out about a half a cup of the cooking water just before draining the pasta. It will look cloudy and yellowish from the starch. Stir this into your simmering sauce a few tablespoons at a time.

I get a little panicky if I realize I’m low on barley. I can’t ever seem to get enough of its chewy texture or nutty-sweet flavor, and I depend it for rounding out quick weeknight meals. I probably eat more barley these days than rice! It’s definitely a good one to have in the pantry.Pearl, or pearled, barley has the outer hull and some of the outer bran removed. This gives it a more uniform shape and it’s signature polished, pearly appearance.

The other night, I was laid up with a bad kitchen injury and a dear friend offered to make me dinner. Little did I know that she’d inspire not only a cheese column but also the future of my mac n’ cheese making.My friend’s mac n’ cheese is actually her signature dish, so her skills are already pretty solid. A key element, of course, is high-quality cheese, of which she has a range of trusted picks.

I don’t know about you, but my evenings often involve a last-minute scramble to get the next day’s lunches prepped and portioned before bedtime. The last thing I want to do is wait around for a pot of rice or a batch of beans to cool down. That’s when I pull out my baking sheet. Grains, beans, and legumes left in the pot can take a long time to cool to room temperature. Both the pot and whatever is inside it tend to hold that heat in rather than letting it go.

Even the most generic dried pasta can be turned into a tasty meal if it’s salted properly. One of the best pieces of advice I was taught in culinary school was, “Salt the pot, not the pasta.” Confused? Here’s what that clever little phrase means.The idea is to salt the water in the cooking pot just as it comes to a boil. It dissolves into the water and then pasta absorbs the salt along with the water as it cooks. You’re salting from the inside out.

If you ever need a reminder why salting the pasta water is key to good pasta, just wait until you forget to do it.I know because this is exactly what happened to me the other night. I took one bite of that pasta and thought my tastebuds had gone berserk. Talk about bland, boring, and tasteless noodles. Bleck.But other than eating a mistake like this and moving on, what can you do? Pim of Chez Pim has a very clever idea.

Whole wheat can be a tough sell. Sure, it’s super healthy and very good for us, just like our moms always said. But it can also weigh down baked goods and give them that distinctive bitter wheat flavor. Now, spelt? Spelt is the best of both worlds.As you can probably guess, spelt flour is ground from the spelt grain (which is also delicious in its own right).

We just can’t seem to get enough quinoa in our house. Why, we’ve even started sneaking it into our breakfasts! Sound weird? Some of these breakfast ideas might change your mind.Quinoa is really a natural fit for breakfast. Its nutty, slightly sweet flavor can go savory or sweet, and the texture of the grain lends itself to porridges and baked goods alike. If you branch out into quinoa flour, there are even more possibilities.

Q: Really, what’s the deal with making pasta dough? Is it really necessary to make the little well and incorporate the flour slowly, or can I just bang it in my KitchenAid with the dough hook? Will the texture be different? Is there something to the slow method or is it just tradition?Sent by EricaEditor: Erica, the goal in making homemade pasta dough is to make it as dense as possible. There should be zero air pockets in the dough when you cut into it with a sharp knife.

Q: My mother in law brought back some chocolate pasta from a recent trip to Italy. I have no idea what to do with it.Any suggestions?Sent by KatieEditor: Katie, I’m intrigued by this recipe for chocolate pasta with Irish cream sauce:• Get the recipe: Chocolate Pasta at Poet in the PantryReaders, what would you do with chocolate pasta?Next question?

Sure salting pasta water results in tastier pasta, but does it really lead to more efficient cooking? The salt-in-pasta-water seems to be a common enough debate while making pasta at home or out with friends. Do you salt the water? How much? When do you add it? Do you think it really makes a difference? So this week we set out to research the science to see if it really does serve a wider purpose other than flavor.

Having mastered basic homemade pasta dough, we’ve started experimenting with various add-ins, from roasted vegetable purées to herbs and spices. Often times, these noodles are so pretty and flavorful that they hardly require a sauce. (On a weeknight, we’ll just toss them with olive oil and maybe a little cheese.) Flavored pastas also make fantastic gifts. Here are a few ideas…Unless otherwise noted, these ingredients may be added along with the eggs.

How would you like to give your favorite macaroni and cheese recipe a super-creamy boost? Well, there’s an easy way to make it happen. And in case you were wondering, it does not involve adding extra cheese. It’s a simple trick — maybe you’ve already tried it? Aside from the cheese, a crucial component of really good macaroni and cheese is the pasta — and it’s time to rethink how you’ve been cooking it. Instead of water, cook your pasta in milk!

Bring a large pot of water to a boil is usually the first step in cooking pasta — but in fact, it’s possible to cook pasta in a small amount of simmering water, perfectly and without sticking. Have you ever tried it?Cooking instructions typically recommend about 6 quarts of boiling water per pound of pasta; anything less than that and you run the risk of your pasta sticking together in a big clump.

There you sit with long noodles and only a short pot in which to boil them. Suddenly the age old conflict of breaking your noodles or not is upon you. Some say it’s bad luck, some say it’s bad form. Where do you stand? Most Italians will tell you that breaking noodles is bad luck. Some folks are ok with the chaos that noodle breaking might create and snap away to make everything fit in so they can walk away from the stove.

Cooking pasta isn’t rocket science, nor does it take a great deal of time. But sometimes even five to 10 minutes can seem like too much when you’re on a tight schedule. Enter: frozen cooked pasta. Frozen cooked pasta reheats quickly, and ensures you have something warm and hearty in your belly before a pot of water could even come to a boil. Want to make some in your own kitchen? Here are a few tips! Cook your pasta ahead of time to just under al dente.

The next time you find yourself with a neglected cup of macaroni or that last serving of spaghetti that no one seems to want, promise me you’ll try this. I’ve been making pasta frittatas ever since another Kitchn writer mentioned it years ago, and it is hands-down my favorite way to use up leftover pasta — along with whatever else is hanging around in the fridge. You make this frittata just like any other.

Q: I’ve been on the hunt for the perfect mac and cheese recipe and have tried 5 different recipes, but I keep running into the same problems: the cheese separates, the dish is too oily, and there is no creamy texture. Most recipes I’ve tried use a roux-based cheese sauce. Is that the issue?Is there a fail proof recipe out there?

There are many myths about cooking pasta that simply aren’t correct and yet they persist. Read on for a few that we would like to see disappear! While it’s true that many things are better when they’re fresh, pasta isn’t one of them. Fresh pasta isn’t superior to dried pasta, it’s just different. Fresh pasta has a silkier, softer texture and should be used with sauces that complement it. Obviously you will need fresh pasta to make ravioli and the like.

Does the kind or shape of pasta really matter for pasta salad? In theory, you can make pasta salad with any kind of pasta that you want, but here are a couple of things to think about so that you make the best choice possible. While fresh pasta is delicious, its more delicate nature means that it isn’t a great choice for pasta salads.

Q: Hi, I read your article about drying pasta. I am very interested in making pasta for my local farmers market. I have tested many batches and I think I have flavors I like. I use clothes hangers to dry, but my pasta is so brittle I won’t be able to package it. I am using 1 cup of flour and 1 egg. I use the “Dough” setting on my bread machine and still knead more by hand. I fold it several times when putting it through the pasta press. Why is my pasta so brittle? Thank you.

Ah, pasta — always an easy and super-satisfying meal, especially on weeknights when there’s limited time for cooking. If you’re anything like me, you’ve been cooking it for years, and by now you could probably make it with your eyes closed. But as simple as it is to cook pasta, you might be making common mistakes without even knowing it. Here are the five most common mistakes that are made when cooking pasta, plus our best tips on how to avoid them!

Today’s Topic: Pasta & Noodles The Goal: 20 lessons, 20 days to become a better cook at home Enter to win The Kitchn Cookbook: Simply share and tag photos of your Kitchn Cooking School progress on Instagram and Twitter with #kitchnschool to enter for a chance to win. We’re giving away one copy for every homework assignment during The Kitchn’s Cooking School. See rules and regulations.

There are few foods as comforting as homemade chicken noodle soup. It’s the first thing I turn to when I’m sick. And once the winter chill sets in, I feel like I could eat this warming soup for lunch day after day. Homemade chicken noodle soup is an essential go-to recipe that every home cook should have in their back pocket. But, before you get your soup simmering, be sure you’re not making one of these five common mistakes.

Poor pasta. That most comforting of comfort foods has really had some bad press in recent years. If you’re going gluten free, or paleo, or just following the common sense advice to eat less refined flour, pasta is not on the menu as much anymore. When I first cut back on it, I missed its ease. Pasta night is a delicious breeze of a weeknight meal. But then I discovered a use for pasta that can be summed up in one word: croutons. Look, I love pasta in all of its various forms.

If there was ever a food so comforting it could reach out and give you a warm hug, it’s homemade macaroni and cheese. A bowl full of carbs enveloped in rich, ultra creamy, melted cheese — in my book, it’s the ultimate comfort food. And as for making it? It’s easier than you think. Before you start grating the cheese (because, yes, you should always grate your own), be sure to avoid these common mac and cheese mistakes. Make It Now!

When it comes to cooking pasta, rinsing is one of the great debates. People have strong feelings about this — some always rinse hot pasta straight out of the pot, and others would never be caught dead doing so. Who’s correct? Both parties — sort of. Whether or not to rinse ultimately depends on how the pasta will be used. Once cooked and drained, pasta is coated with a starchy film.

Q: I’m going to make fresh tortellini for a dinner party. Can I prepare it in the morning and cook later that evening? If so, what is the best way to do it? I’ve had a trial run and it came out very chewy — what did I do wrong? And finally, what would you serve on the side of spinach-and-ricotta tortellini Alfredo with prosciutto and peas? Many thanks and kind regards.

Q: Not having grown up in the States, I didn’t know about mac and cheese until they started stocking it in the shelves here a few years ago. I always keep a box around in case of a hurried meal, but I’ve noticed that it just doesn’t taste as good when I reheat the leftovers. I’ve tried using the microwave and oven, but the leftovers were still not as good as when fresh. Is there a way to reheat it without ruining the texture or flavor?

I don’t know how things go down in your house, but on nights I don’t really feel like cooking, the solution is usually pasta. It’s quick, simple, and comforting — all the right qualities for a midweek meal. I also like to keep dinner from getting boring, so I skip the jarred sauce and top my pasta du jour with something from the pantry.

There are quite a few handy rice upgrades to lean on when you want to up the flavor of rice, like toasting the grains or cooking with stock — all of which are effective and useful. But what you do when you want to change the texture of your rice? Perhaps so it shares the characteristics of ramen? Yep — you can do that too. The secret to cooking rice like ramen is alkaline water, which can be achieved by creating a solution of water and baking soda.

I have this funny little habit that just might just inch my Type A tendencies over the line into ridiculously over-the-top. You see, I weigh my dry pasta. Since I live in a household of two, I always find myself making half a pasta recipe, which means I need a half-pound of dry pasta. Because I can never seem to pour out exactly half the box, I’ve come to rely on measuring out eight ounces every single time. But you know what? Don’t be like me. Be better.

Cooking up a bit pot of pasta is already a weeknight savior — it’s generally pretty fast and it’s always a crowd-pleaser — but what if you could make the whole process even faster? The truth is, you can. By forgoing some of the most basic of pasta-cooking rules and looking for cooking tricks along the way, you can get your pasta dinner to the table in even less time than you ever thought possible. Here’s how.

I am constantly looking for ways to use up the extra-large batches of hummus I make or the tubs I buy on sale at the grocery store. Sure, I can confidently polish off a fair share with pita chips or crackers as a mid-afternoon snack, but there’s always some left over that needs using. When our Associate Food Editor, Meghan, clued me into her favorite (but most surprising!) way to use hummus, I didn’t believe her until I tried it. Now I am a convert.

We have some very specific thoughts on the best way to cook pasta, and we’ve even recommended cooking grains like pasta Salted water is a must for cooking any type of pasta, since it infuses the pasta with flavor as it cooks. The same cooking technique does not apply to ramen. For the very best results, always cook ramen noodles — fresh or dried — in unsalted boiling water.

To me, soup is just a vehicle to get more pasta in my life. And shapes like elbows and orzo are really just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the best choice for your pot of soup. Here are five new boxes to seek out the next time you’re at the store. Resembling wagon wheels, you may remember this pasta from the good ol’ days of making dry pasta necklaces. It’s on the larger size for a soup pasta, but it’s a nice replacement for your usual choice in chicken noodle.

If Hamilton taught us anything about flipping the script on American stories, it’s that you have to play to your strengths to be successful and you shouldn’t hesitate to remix the familiar. So if Thanksgiving is a performance of America’s most-hallowed dinner, make this year the remix. Ditch the turkey (or keep it — that’s cool too), have a meal of only sides, break out that Tofurky, and most definitely serve lasagna. Yep, lasagna.

In my house, every season is mac and cheese season. Stovetop mac and cheese feeds our craving in the spring and summer, tossed with fresh peas or ripe tomatoes. Come fall and winter, baked mac and cheese reigns supreme. Mac and cheese can be a quick weeknight dinner or a hearty side dish for holidays and get-togethers. So whether you need a single serving or you are baking a big ol’ casserole, here are five things everyone needs to know about mac and cheese.

With pasta in our weeknight rotation, we’ve come to learn quite a few things in order to achieve dinner perfection. So in order to make the comforting bowl as delicious as possible, there are a few smart rules to follow and savvy tips to employ. But more than anything, it’s what you don’t do that makes a huge difference. Here’s our list of no-nos. Pasta needs room to breathe.

A box of instant macaroni and cheese carries a reputation of ease and comfort. While fancy isn’t usually the first thing that comes to mind, it can be if you know how to dress it up. The fastest, fanciest upgrade is something you may already have in your pantry at this very moment. I am talking about good ol’ garlicky, herby pesto.

The addition of bacon in macaroni and cheese is one loved by many. Here’s a way to take that idea to the next level. Cubes of cooked pancetta give off a similarly meaty, salty flavor, but have a fast-and-fancy flair to them that make the whole thing feel upgraded. Pancetta is Italian unsmoked bacon. It has ample fatty richness to send your mac and cheese over the edge — and that’s a great thing.

The powdered cheese that comes in your box of instant mac and cheese does a very good job of coating the noodles in salty and savory flavor. You could leave well enough alone, but a bit of over-indulgence never hurt anyone. So adding more cheese — be it cheddar, soft goat, or even blue — to the pot is more than OK. It’s one of the easiest ways to build in an extra layer of flavor to your standard box of instant mac and cheese.

For those nights when you find yourself torn between a bowl of macaroni and cheese and a bowl of spaghetti, know that you can have both. Go right ahead and swirl some of your favorite marinara sauce into your mac and cheese for your sauciest bowl yet! Marinara sauce, with its garlic- and tomato-forward flavor, can completely transform your macaroni and cheese. It’s a simple addition that takes no effort — especially if you reach for the half-full jar stashed in the fridge.

Some nights or, let’s be honest, most weeknights, a complicated dinner isn’t an option. But that doesn’t mean you have to order takeout. The beauty of a jar of pasta sauce is that it really is an instant meal (so long as you have a box of pasta handy, of course). A simple dinner of spaghetti tossed in jarred marinara is something I grew up on when nights were busy and from-scratch sauce wasn’t an option.

Keep a bag of frozen tortellini tucked away in your freezer and you can rest easy knowing that a quick meal is always at the ready. This series on fast tortellini dinners will show you how to transform frozen tortellini into dinner using pantry staples and a few surprising techniques. Pasta sauce is just the beginning!

Keep a bag of frozen tortellini tucked away in your freezer and you can rest easy knowing that a quick meal is always at the ready. This series on fast tortellini dinners will show you how to transform frozen tortellini into dinner using pantry staples and a few surprising techniques. Pasta sauce is just the beginning! Put down the knife and fork — here’s your excuse to have a little fun and eat with your hands.

Keep a bag of frozen tortellini tucked away in your freezer and you can rest easy knowing that a quick meal is always at the ready. This series on fast tortellini dinners will show you how to transform frozen tortellini into dinner using pantry staples and a few surprising techniques. Pasta sauce is just the beginning! You already know that frozen tortellini makes for a hassle-free dinner, but what if you could make it even simpler?

Keep a bag of frozen tortellini tucked away in your freezer and you can rest easy knowing that a quick meal is always at the ready. This series on fast tortellini dinners will show you how to transform frozen tortellini into dinner using pantry staples and a few surprising techniques. Pasta sauce is just the beginning! Family get-together coming up this weekend and you need to bring something everyone will eat? Pasta salad. Need a fast, but fresh dinner between work and soccer practice?

Let’s face it — a simple salad just isn’t enough for dinner. (People tend to complain.) So when you’re looking to turn those last bits of spinach, half a cucumber, and a few chopped radishes into a dinner-ready meal, here’s a trick: Reach for that bag of frozen tortellini. This brilliant shortcut transforms the last bits of the crisper drawer into a dinner you can make for one or scale up to feed four or more. Here’s how!

Keep a bag of frozen tortellini tucked away in your freezer and you can rest easy knowing that a quick meal is always at the ready. This series on fast tortellini dinners will show you how to transform frozen tortellini into dinner using pantry staples and a few surprising techniques. Pasta sauce is just the beginning! Frozen tortellini deserves to be dressed up and made to feel a bit fancy sometimes.

Keep a bag of frozen tortellini tucked away in your freezer and you can rest easy knowing that a quick meal is always at the ready. This series on fast tortellini dinners will show you how to transform frozen tortellini into dinner using pantry staples and a few surprising techniques. Pasta sauce is just the beginning! Dinner tonight should most definitely be this almost-instant pasta soup.

It’s hard to beat the level of comfort provided by a pasta dish that’s coated in a heavy cream sauce, like fettuccine Alfredo or penne alla vodka. That kind of dish is really more of a once-in-a-while meal for some, or not an option for others depending on their dietary choices, but that doesn’t mean creamy pasta dishes can’t be on the weekly roster.

When I was in high school, my father discovered whole-wheat pasta and jumped on the bandwagon with full force, like so many other health-conscious people at the time. Our pantry was stripped of all traditional pasta, and boxes of brown stuff took its place. It clearly wasn’t the high point of my pasta-eating days. I ate the stuff hesitantly; it tasted dense and sad to me more often than not.

Lightning-fast mac and cheese already exists: It’s the stuff you’d microwave in your college dorm and quickly inhale in between classes. But if you want real-deal mac and cheese, with a healthier slant than that scary bright-orange stuff, you have to take the time to make it on the stovetop. That is, unless, you have an Instant Pot. Honestly, I think this recipe completely justifies the purchase of an Instant Pot. Mac and cheese in four minutes? With only five ingredients?

Of all the comfort foods that exist in this world, it’s hard to beat macaroni and cheese. What’s not to love about noodles bathed in a rich, creamy, cheese sauce? And yet gummy versions or dry, chalky versions are out there, and I firmly believe life is too short to endure them. There are a handful of secrets to avoid these travesties, leaving you to enjoy all the decadent goodness you so desire. Here are five things to always remember when you make mac and cheese.

Making Martha Stewart’s mac and cheese instead of the mac and cheese I grew up eating at Thanksgiving isn’t something I’d do if I was home for the holidays. My brothers would sulk, my mom would be forlorn about it, and I’m not quite sure my dad would notice. But for my first Friendsgiving, there was only one recipe that would do if I wanted to make a mark. I had to bring Martha Stewart’s mac and cheese.

Pasta seems like an easy thing to cook — boil, drain, sauce, done — but like any other simple food, making boxed pasta can be complex. We hear the same pasta strictures on repeat: Salt the water (it should taste like the sea), don’t break the spaghetti, don’t simply ladle on the sauce. You get the idea. Here’s a roadmap for navigating the pitfalls of pasta. In the end, great pasta is both simple and complex — and getting there is pretty easy.

Pasta is the fall-back dinner I keep in my meal plan. Beyond the obvious selling points of being quick, simple, and inexpensive, it’s one more way to get more veggies on the table and clean out the fridge. But I don’t just open a jar of sauce and call it a night. With a few basic guiding steps and smart tips, I know I can transform an assortment of bits and bobs into a simple and delicious restaurant-style weeknight pasta — no jar of pasta sauce in sight.

Pasta is often thought of as an easy dinner for four or more people. But it’s a little annoying for just one or two, since most recipes make a large amount and it’s a bit of pain to pull out just enough spaghetti for one person from the box. “Make the whole recipe and have leftovers!” the crowd says. Well as much as my husband and I love pasta, we don’t actually want to eat what’s left of it for the whole rest of the week.