Quick Easy Dinner Recipes

Need Dinner On The Table In 30 Minutes?

So you loved the 5 simple pasta recipes from my battered old scrapbook? (Click here for another look)

But you really need something a bit faster? Well, you got it.

Here are 5 more quick easy dinner recipes based on pasta, and these will take you 30 minutes or less to prepare, cook and serve.

1. Boscaiola Sauce
This is a quick one and it combines with delicious flavors of bacon and mushrooms together in a creamy sauce. All you have to do is chop and cook.

The sauce should be finished just in time for the pasta.

Being a creamy sauce, you'll need pasta that will trap the velvety goodness in its crevices. Use spirals, bows, shells, anything that will cup the sauce.

2. Arrabiata Sauce
Use the best tinned tomatoes you can for this recipe.

I love this in winter. It’s a way of bringing the memory of a hot summer, cicadas, swimming and super ripe tomatoes into the depths of a miserable winter.

It will take 20 to 30 minutes to cook so it’s reasonably fast. Toss some baby rocket or spinach leaves through it if you can get them.

Spirals or penne pasta suit this sauce.

3. Primavera Sauce
Primavera is Italian for "spring", so you can be very imaginative in putting this sauce together. Of course, you don’t have to save it for spring; you can use any seasonal vegetables.

Usually, there is an emphasis on something green, like broccoli or peas. Personally, I love Pasta Primavera with asparagus.

There’s no cream in this recipe. The flavors are too delicate and would be swamped in the cream.

Try serving it with penne or bow shaped pasta.

4. Marinara Sauce
Ok, so I rarely have the ingredients for this dish just sitting around. I have to be organized, plan ahead a little and either pick up a bag of frozen marinara mix on the day I need it or during my fortnightly shop.

It’s quick and tasty and popular at any time of the year. It’s the one pasta dish I eat with bread as I really can’t resist soaking up the juices with a crispy crust.

I love to serve it with shell pasta (just to maintain the whole seaside thing!) but every time I’ve had it in a restaurant it’s been served with fettuccine or spaghetti.

5. The Day Before Shopping Sauce
This sauce is the one I make when it looks like there’s absolutely nothing in the pantry or fridge. So, not only does it qualify for my quick easy dinner recipes, it can help get you out of a tight spot as well!

I only shop once a fortnight. In summer I can pick a few things from my own garden or do a quick restock locally if I have to, but even so, there’s nearly always a point where I’ll find the “cupboard is bare”. So this sauce is necessarily sparse.

It has strong, simple flavors and relies on the pasta to provide the actual substance of the meal.

It’s based on lemons, herbs and garlic. It takes no time at all to make and when served with a salad and glass of wine, it can be passed off as a totally planned, balanced meal.

In winter I like to sit a soft poached egg on top of each serving for some protein and color.

Of course, being the day before shopping you’re going to have to eat it with whatever pasta you have to hand, but if you can, it’s best with spaghetti.

Ok, off you go, get a pot of water boiling and you’ll be eating in half an hour.

If you are fairly new to cooking then work your way through this list of quick easy dinner recipes and you’ll soon see that you can make up your own variations from whatever you have on hand in your pantry and fridge.

Enjoy!!

A Quick Note On Eating Pasta

I’m not on a diet, but I am mindful of how many carbohydrates I eat each day. You’ve probably heard about all the low-carb diets that are everywhere these days, and while I think most of them are almost impossible to follow, I do agree that cutting back on carbs suits my largely sedentary lifestyle.

So these days I save pasta for one of my emergency meals and only have it a couple of times a month.

However, I strongly believe that carbs are important for kids who are active and of an average weight. So make sure your kids have carbs every day. To give them a real boost, make sure the carbs are low GI. Give them whole meal pasta, whole wheat mixed grain bread, and a variety of pulses like chickpeas, lentils and canned beans.

Basically, it’s all the stuff they hate, so good luck with that. Personally, I’d rather know my daughter is turning up her nose at an excellent, healthy meal than turning her nose up at a plate of junk.

Less guilt, and if she does happen to be hungry she's got all the good stuff right there in front of her.

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