Give your pasta a break from bolognese and expand your repertoire with these refreshing new ideas for pasta sauce recipes. We'll always love marinara sauce, but it's time we started creating other variations. From throbbing green pesto to fiery chili oil, these pasta sauce recipes are perfect if you're looking for a change from the classic tomato sauce or ready-made consistency from the jar.
It's hard to imagine our kitchen without a pack of spaghetti, tagliatelle, pasta or macaroni. Everyone is crazy about Italian pasta dishes. Regardless of whether you prefer classic pasta sauce recipes or something innovative, you'll find your inspiration here. We invite you to try out the healthy and easy recipe ideas that you can find vegetarian, meat orPrepare low-caloriecan discover.
Homemade pasta sauce recipes like the Italians - lingurian pesto
We start our trip to Italy with a recipe that allows you to make more pesto than needed. Serve the extra with vegetables, salmon or other fish and spread it on sandwiches. You have a wide range of options.
Ingredients:
- Kosher salt
- 10 Bagsfresh basil leaves
- 1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan and possibly more
- 2 tablespoons pine nuts
- 1 garlic clove, coarsely chopped
- 1/2 cup mild virgin olive oil and additional for drizzling
- 450 g Spaghetti
Preparation:
First, bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Place a colander in a large bowl of ice water to make it easier to prepare the basil later. First, blanch the basil leaves for 10 seconds and then use a slotted spoon to add them to the ice water to cool. Set aside 1/2 cup of the cooking water and save it for later.
Drain the basil by lifting the sieve away from the ice water. Squeeze out excess water with your hands and blot with paper towel. There should be about 1/2 cup left.
Place the blanched basil, parmesan cheese, pine nuts and garlic in a food processor and mix well while gradually adding the cooking water. Repeat until a homogeneous, thick puree forms. Then pour the mixture into a medium-sized container, stir in 1/2 cup oil and season with salt.
Next, cook the spaghetti in salted water until al dente, stirring occasionally. Spoon 1/2 cup pesto and 1/4 cup cooking liquid from the pasta and pour into a large bowl. With pliersthe Spaghettiplace on top and shake vigorously. Finally, drizzle with olive oil and add more pesto and cheese to taste until the spaghetti is shiny and well coated with the sauce.
With summer squash
Steamed pumpkin will eventually become jammy and juicy if you cook it long enough. This pasta sauce is ideal in combination with large pieces of pasta.
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 8 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- 1 kg assorted summer squash and zucchini, quartered lengthwise
- Kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon Aleppo pepper (Mediterranean style)
- 400 g paccheri, ziti or other large tube noodles
- 1/2 cup, about 70g grated Parmesan
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1/2 cup basil leaves
Preparation:
Heat the oil in a large skillet and fry the garlic, stirring occasionally, until very lightly browned around the edges. Add the pumpkin and saute until mushy while also sprinkling with salt and pepper. In the meantime, you can cook the pasta al dente in a large pot of boiling salted water.
Then add the pasta to the pan with a pasta spoon and add the cooking liquid again until you get a homogeneous mixture of pasta and sauce. Garnish with lemon juice and most of the basil. Finally, divide the Italian pasta dish among the plates and top with Parmesan cheese and Aleppo pepper as well as the remaining basil leaves.
Linguine with clams
Clams vary in saltiness and the amount of liquid they release during cooking, so you'll need to adjust the salt and add pasta water accordingly. To prevent the sauce from being too salty, we recommend adding a measured amount of salt to the pasta water. If possible, look for an artisan-dried pasta for this recipe—the rougher surface texture traps the slippery sauce better.
Ingredients:
- 2 tablespoons crystal salt or kosher salt
- 12 garlic cloves, divided into halves
- 140 g sourdough or crustless country bread, cut into pieces
- 3 tablespoons and 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2 teaspoons finely grated lemon peel
- 4 oil-filled anchovy fillets (optional)
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed red peppers
- 1/3 cup dry white wine
- 900 g (approx. 24 pieces) clams, scrubbed
- 400 g bottles of Spaghetti (Linguine)
- 1/2 cup finely chopped parsley
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
Preparation:
Bring the water to the boil again with salt and in the meantime chop 3 cloves of garlic and mix into fine crumbs with the bread. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat and stir-fry the pre-made breadcrumbs until the crumbs are golden and crispy. Then put them in a medium bowl and add lemon zest while seasoning with salt.
Wipe out the pot and use a vegetable slicer to slice the remaining 9 garlic cloves very thinly. Then heat 1/4 cup oil in the Dutch oven and sauté the garlic on the edges until golden brown. Add the anchovies and 1/2 teaspoon pepperoni and cook until the fish dissolves. Quickly stir in the wine and simmer until there are just a few tablespoons of liquid left in the pot. Add the mussels and cook, covered, until they open. Remove the pot from the heat and place the clams in a medium bowl, leaving the liquid behind.
Next, cook the pasta and use a heatproof measuring cup to scoop out about 2 cups of the cooking liquid. Then combine the liquid from the mussels with the pasta in a pot and add a cup of the pasta cooking liquid. Cook, continually adding liquid, until the pasta is al dente and the sauce is glossy and thick enough to adhere to the pasta.
Remove the dish from the heat and toss in the parsley and butter until the latter melts. Sprinkle about a third of the breadcrumbs over the linguine and portion into shallow bowls, topping with the remaining clams, breadcrumbs, peppers, and oil.
Roasted orecchiette with veal dumplings
If you exclusivelyMeat and low-calorie pasta saucesIf you prefer recipes, our last suggestion is for you.
Ingredients:
- 4 slices smoked bacon
- 300g veal
- 250 g minced pork
- 8 garlic cloves – 2 whole, 4 finely chopped, 2 thinly sliced
- 1 onion, halved
- 1/2 cup dried breadcrumbs
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 1/2 tsp ground coriander
- 1/8 teaspoon hot smoked Spanish paprika
- 1/8 teaspoon each ground allspice and crushed red peppers
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt and black pepper
- 2 cups low sodium chicken broth
- 450 g Orecchiette
- 5 tbsp olive oil
- 300 g maitake mushrooms, stemless and torn into pieces
- 1 bunch Tuscan kale, ribs and stems removed, chopped
- Finely grated Parmesan for serving
Preparation:
Place a rack in the upper third of the preheated oven. Dice the bacon, add the veal and pork and mix the mixture with your hands. Mince the whole garlic cloves and onion and add a quarter of the meat mixture along with breadcrumbs, milk and coriander, red peppers, allspice, salt, pepper and paprika. Form golf ball-sized dumplings with the remaining meat and place them in an ovenproof baking dish while pouring the broth over them. Bake the meatballs for about 20 minutes.
In this case too, cook the orecchiette until al dente and place in a bowl with a tablespoon of oil. In the meantime, cut the remaining onion half into thin slices and sauté together with the mushrooms and garlic halves, stirring occasionally, until the products are cooked through and crispy. Season with salt and pepper and transfer the mixture to a plate.
Fry the noodles in the pan until crispy and finally add the cabbage and mushroom mixture. Place the pasta on plates and top with the meatballs and the hot cooking liquid on top. Finally sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese. Bon appetit!