Dinner Recipes

5 Free Dinner Recipes

When I’m in a hurry, or want – no, make that need – some comfort food, or feel like I’ve lost the plot, these recipes just seem to jump into my hand.

At these times, you just can’t beat pasta with a tasty sauce.

Here are 5 pasta sauce recipes to suit your mood, the season, your diet requirements or what you have in the pantry.

1. Bolognaise Sauce
When I was younger, before I had been introduced to the wonders and complexity of Italian food and cookery, I believed that Italian food began and ended with this dish.

It was all I wanted: tasty, hearty, warming, sweet, it has it all. It’s still a firm favorite in my book of dinner recipes. Generally, kids love it too.

Be warned, it needs around 45 to 60 minutes to cook, (3 hours if you want to be really serious) so it’s not going to work if you only have half an hour to get a meal ready. The best way is to cook the sauce the day before. That way it's ready to go when you need it and it gives the sauce time to fully mature in flavor. Make sure you cook 2 or 3 times what you need so you can freeze the rest for next time.

It’s best served with spaghetti, but really, you can eat it with any type of pasta.

2. Puttanesca Sauce
This simple sauce is based on olives and tomatoes and packs a powerful amount of flavor thanks to addition of anchovies, capers and chilli – all of which you can have bottled or canned in your pantry.

In fact, I believe that's the origin of this sauce - all the ingrediants should be (can be) in your pantry waiting until you need them.

It’s probably best suited to summer when tomatoes and basil are at their best, but there's no reason why you can't substitute with canned tomatoes and basil from a tube.

Guess what?!There’s no cream in this sauce so it's good for your waistline too. Plus it's quick to prepare so you’ll have time to make up a salad while the pasta finishes cooking.

Try it with linguini or fettuccine pasta.

3. Pesto Sauce
It isn't very often I have dinner recipes that need a warning, but I have to with this one:

Ok, you’re an adult, you decide if you want to continue. Pesto can be bought in a bottle ready made, and it will produce a passable meal. Perfect when you are tired or in a rush.

But for the full “Oh, my giddy Aunt that's good! Can I have that on breakfast cereal and in my coffee, too” experience, you have to make your own.

Make up a batch and keep it in the fridge for 2 or 3 weeks. Serve it with any pasta…in sandwiches, baste meat with it, dress salads with it, roast veggies in it, have it on ice cream…ok, maybe not ice cream.

Just don’t eat it straight from the jar by the spoonful or you’ll get a name for yourself.

4. Carbonara Sauce
You know, this has to be one of the most murdered sauces going. I don’t think I’ve ever had it in a restaurant and enjoyed it. It’s always exactly like sweet glue.

Make it at home and rediscover just how delightful it is. The taste combination of pancetta and cream is just divine. I'm getting goose bumps just thinking about it!

It’s fairly fast and best to cook it for less than you think it really needs. It will become one of your favorite dinner recipes.

I love it on fettuccine, and keep the parmesan handy in case you want to add more.

5. Napoletana Sauce
This is a real summer time favorite. Super ripe home grown tomatoes are best. You really need to give this sauce time to cook and mature to condense the taste to the tomatoes.

My favorite part of this recipe is peeling the tomatoes. Slipping the skins off the plump, red fruits is so sensuous, I never tire of it.

Penne, spiral or shell pasta is perfect for this sauce.

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