Dinner
Anellini al Forno
Sicilian baked ring-shaped pasta with ragu, peas, and cheese, formed into a golden, sliceable timballo.
⏱ 80 min🔥 520 kcalMedium
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Italian Pasta Recipes
14 recipes using pasta — Pasta, pizza, risotto and more from la bella Italia.
These 14 italian pasta recipes are ready in about 45 minutes on average, with 434–720 kcal per serving, and 36% are rated easy enough for a weeknight. Every recipe includes exact ingredient quantities, step-by-step instructions and full nutrition per serving.
14
recipes
45 min
average time
552 kcal
avg per serving
36%
easy recipes
How Italian cuisine cooks with pasta
Italian cooking is built on restraint — a handful of excellent ingredients treated simply, letting each one taste of itself. When Italian cooks work with pasta, they reach for olive oil, garlic, basil, oregano, tomatoes, parmesan and a good splash of wine, and the techniques that come up most across these recipes are boiling, simmering, frying and sautéing.
A versatile wheat staple that carries sauces from a few-minute aglio e olio to slow-simmered ragù. In this collection it's most often cooked with olive oil, garlic, fine sea salt, egg yolks, neutral oil or olive oil and large onion. The dishes here span italian classics ready in as little as 17 minutes to slower, more involved cooking that rewards a relaxed afternoon.
14 Italian Pasta Recipes
Lunch
Artichoke Pasta
Bright spring pasta with tender artichokes, garlic, lemon, and parmesan in a light, glossy sauce.
⏱ 45 min🔥 460 kcalEasy
Dinner
Bacon Carbonara
Silky Roman pasta with eggs, pecorino, black pepper, and crisp bacon, made entirely without cream.
⏱ 30 min🔥 560 kcalMedium
✨ NewDinner
Spaghetti Carbonara (Authentic Roman Recipe)
The real Roman carbonara — silky egg and Pecorino Romano sauce, crispy guanciale, no cream ever. A masterclass in technique over ingredients.
⏱ 30 min🔥 720 kcalMedium
Dinner
Cacio e Pepe
Roman pasta with Pecorino Romano cheese and black pepper, nothing else
⏱ 20 min🔥 620 kcalMedium
✨ NewDinner
Spaghetti alla Bottarga
Sardinian pasta with grated cured mullet roe, garlic, and olive oil — five ingredients, oceanic intensity.
⏱ 17 min🔥 580 kcalEasy
✨ NewDinner
Carbonara Romana Classica
Rome's signature pasta — guanciale, eggs, Pecorino Romano, black pepper. No cream. Ever.
⏱ 25 min🔥 680 kcalMedium
✨ NewDinner
Pasta alla Norma (Sicilian Eggplant Pasta with Ricotta Salata)
Sicily's homage to the opera Norma: rigatoni with fried eggplant, tomato, basil, and showers of grated salty ricotta salata.
⏱ 60 min🔥 680 kcalEasy
✨ NewLunch
Sicilian Lemon Eggplant Rice Bowl
Sicilian Lemon Eggplant Rice Bowl brings italian flavor into a practical home recipe with chicken thighs, olive oil, garlic, tomatoes and hard cheese, and a finish of basil.
⏱ 37 min🔥 434 kcalHard
✨ NewSoup
Tuscan White Bean Soup
Tuscan White Bean Soup brings italian flavor into a practical home recipe with white fish, olive oil, garlic, tomatoes and hard cheese, and a finish of basil.
⏱ 63 min🔥 456 kcalEasy
✨ NewDinner
Calabrian Tomato Chili Skillet Dinner
Calabrian Tomato Chili Skillet Dinner brings italian flavor into a practical home recipe with lamb mince, olive oil, garlic, tomatoes and hard cheese, and a finish of basil.
⏱ 59 min🔥 478 kcalMedium
✨ NewSalads
Liguria Basil Zucchini Salad
Liguria Basil Zucchini Salad brings italian flavor into a practical home recipe with roasted carrots, olive oil, garlic, tomatoes and hard cheese, and a finish of basil.
⏱ 70 min🔥 500 kcalMedium
✨ NewDinner
Italian Toasted Fennel and Chile Pasta (Pasta con Finocchio)
A simple pasta tossed with olive oil, toasted fennel seeds, garlic, and chile flakes -- rustic southern Italian flavor.
⏱ 30 min🔥 520 kcalEasy
✨ NewDinner
Baked Ziti with Roasted Vegetables and Toasted Sesame Breadcrumbs
A hearty baked ziti loaded with roasted seasonal vegetables and finished with a crisp, sesame-flecked breadcrumb topping.
⏱ 62 min🔥 520 kcalMedium
Choosing & preparing pasta
How to choose
Bronze-die dried pasta has a rougher surface that grips sauce better than smooth Teflon-extruded shapes. Match the shape to the sauce: long strands for oily/silky sauces, ridged tubes for chunky ones.
Prep & storage
Cook in plenty of well-salted boiling water until al dente, then finish it in the sauce with a splash of starchy pasta water to emulsify and bind.
When is it done?
Al dente means tender with a slight bite at the centre — usually a minute less than the packet time, since it keeps cooking in the sauce.
Nutrition
A complex-carbohydrate energy source; whole-wheat versions add fibre, and the al dente texture gives a lower glycaemic response.
Classic flavour partners: tomatoes, garlic, basil, parmesan, olive oil, chilli
Italian Pasta Recipes — FAQ
How long do Italian pasta recipes take to make?
Most of these 14 Italian pasta recipes are ready in around 45 minutes from start to finish. The quickest, Spaghetti alla Bottarga, takes about 17 minutes, while the slower-cooked dishes run up to 80 minutes.
How many calories are in Italian pasta dishes?
Across this collection they range from about 434 to 720 kcal per serving, averaging 552 kcal — Sicilian Lemon Eggplant Rice Bowl is the lightest option at 434 kcal.
What is the easiest Italian pasta recipe for beginners?
Artichoke Pasta is a great place to start — it's rated easy and comes together in about 45 minutes. 36% of the recipes here are beginner-friendly.
What goes well with pasta in Italian cooking?
In these recipes, pasta is most often paired with olive oil, garlic, fine sea salt, egg yolks, neutral oil or olive oil and large onion. Italian kitchens also lean on olive oil, garlic, basil, oregano, tomatoes, parmesan and a good splash of wine.
How do I know when pasta is properly cooked?
Al dente means tender with a slight bite at the centre — usually a minute less than the packet time, since it keeps cooking in the sauce.
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