It’s fair to say that Italians know a lot about cooking pasta! So, when it comes to rustling up quick and easy weeknight pasta recipes, there’s no better expertise than can be found in a busy Italian household!
Pasta is so versatile that it’s easy to prepare delicious and nutritious evening meals, which take little time and minimum ingredients. Many of which already live in kitchen cupboards around the world!
Meat, vegetarian and seafood options.
The trick is to have super-quick recipe ideas at your fingertips, Below you’ll find 21 weeknight pasta dishes from Italy which can be on the table in less than hour, many in just 30 mins! I’ve included meat, vegetarian and seafood recipes so, something for everyone!
Click the recipe name to go to the individual recipe post.
Vegetarian, vegan, and meatless weeknight pasta recipes.
Easy baked tagiatelle pasta with Fontina
If you like your pasta easy and cheesy, then this simple oven-baked tagliatelle with Fontina is a weeknight winner! Just cheese, butter, pasta plus ten minutes in the oven and hey presto! So simple and delicious. Ideal with a salad and also works well as a tasty side dish for meat or chicken.
Pasta aglio, olio, peperoncino (alla Borbonica)
The secret of Italian simplicity at its best! Garlic, olive oil and chilli pepper with long or short pasta combine to make one of the most popular impromptu pasta dishes of every Italian household (no shopping required!) You can have this healthy, tasty and satisfying weeknight pasta on the table in just 30 mins from pan to plate!
Pasta with creamy mascapone cheese sauce recipe
Creamy and comforting, this quick and delicious mascarpone pasta recipe uses just four main ingredients. None of which need to be cooked; just folded into the steaming strained pasta of your choice. Ideal for a warming winter weeknight dinner and just as heavenly with salad or as a side dish all year round!
Elephant Garlic Pasta Recipe (pici all'aglione)
Jumbo-size taste with mini mouse effort! Pici all’aglione is a classic 3-ingredient, tomato based recipe, traditionally made with elephant garlic (aglione in Italian). However, it works well with a combo of regular garlic and leeks. Perfect for a quick, easy and flavorsome weeknight pasta treat!
Penne Pomodoro Recipe (easy tomato pasta recipe)
Penne pomodoro is THE traditional go-to ‘bare cupboard’ Italian family recipe! All you need is canned tomatoes/passata, basil, dried pasta and 30 minutes! Penne is ideal, but any pasta works just as well and spaghetti is more widely used in Southern Italy. Weeknight pasta perfection for busy people and hungry families!
Easy Gorgonzola Pasta with Olives alla Cenere
A gorgeous gorgonzola gourmet pasta dish ready in less than 30 minutes! Pasta alla cenere is a rich, creamy recipe using only three ingredients and very little thyme (optional!). Truly an Italian restaurant level dish, this bowl of heaven is ideal as a family weeknight pasta treat. It also makes a special weeknight supper ‘a deux’ and a fine feast for a last minute ‘cena’ guests!
Tagliatelle with Porcini Mushrooms
A mushroom MUST for mushroom lovers looking for a special weeknight pasta recipe! Tagliatelle with porcini is a classic Italian dish combining just four ingredients: porcini, wine, garlic, wild mint or thyme. The king of mushrooms, porcini are packed with flavour and widely available dried all year round (frozen work just as well out of season).
If using dried porcini, add any fresh mushrooms to deliver the ‘meaty’ texture. A dish fit for royalty served from pan to plate in less than an hour!
Fresh tomato and garlic Spaghetti alla Maratea.
Discover the true taste of fresh tomatoes! This quick and easy method of simmering tomatoes in a bain-marie (or bagnomaria in Italian) creates a startlingly fresh and deep flavour by gently infusing the tomatoes with garlic to create a raw/cooked effect. Combined with basil to make a sensational fresh tomato vegan spaghetti sauce served in 30 minutes from ‘bagno to bowl’!
Creamy fava bean pesto (marò)
Spring into kitchen action with this sensational seasonal fava bean (broad bean) pesto! Fresh fava beans are a prized spring ingredient in Italy, but this simple, creamy pasta condiment works well enough with canned beans all year round.
The combination of fava beans, garlic, mint, pecorino, pine nuts and olive oil makes a heavenly alternative to the traditional basil-based version. Leftovers keep well in the fridge for a late night treat on toast, as a bruschetta starter or a super-quick weeknight pasta!
Fish and seafood weeknight pasta recipes
Spaghetti alla Puttanesca
Italian authenticity and simplicity at its best! Spaghetti alla Puttanesca is THE quintessentially Italian pasta recipe which tastes so exotic and yet only calls for four key ingredients and 30 minutes to serve from scratch! For last minute weeknight pasta meals or unexpected guests, you can substitute fresh ingredients with canned tomatoes and preserved anchovies to produce the perfect pasta Puttanesca pronto!
Olive and Tuna Spaghetti all’Ascolana
Green olives and tuna make a perfect culinary partnership! This quick and tasty spaghetti recipe is traditionally made with large green olives famously grown in the Marche region of Italy, but almost any green olives work just as well.
All you need is a handful of key kitchen cupboard mainstays: tinned tuna, anchovies, tomato passata, preserved olives and 30 minutes; making Spaghetti all’Ascolana an ideal and delicious weeknight recipe for busy households!
Tuna and Anchovy Vermicelli recipe from Naples
Invented by a Neapolitan marquis some 200 years ago, this exquisite tuna and anchovy recipe is literally history in the making! Flavor and simplicity were clearly as important in the 19th century as they are today. This is why this recipe is an enduring Italian family favourite! Using just a handful of key ingredients, this time-honoured dish can be served in 30 minutes. This is an easy and very tasty weeknight treat [the punch is in the peppercorns!]
Pasta with Zucchini and Shrimp
This simple, light and elegant seafood recipe makes for a sensational, easy to prepare weeknight pasta treat! Frozen shrimps or prawns work just as well as fresh. The thinly sliced zucchini and spiced up garlic perfectly complement the shrimp in both flavour and presentation. With just a handful of easy-reach ingredients, this sublime, restaurant quality dish can be served in a mere 40 minutes!
Creamy Smoked Salmon Pasta
Star. Fish! Italians like to eat their smoked salmon either as a starter/antipasto or more commonly cooked into a rich, creamy pasta sauce. The marvel of this recipe is in how quick and simple it is to serve up a luxurious, 5-star pasta dish within 30 minutes, making it an ideal date-night ‘cena’; an impressive feast for last minute guests or, best of all, as a weeknight pasta treat for busy households!
Meat weeknight pasta recipes.
Easy Italian red onion pasta recipe (alla cipollara)
Sweet red onions gently sautéed with pancetta*, a little white wine and Pecorino – what’s not to like?! Combined with rigatoni pasta, this quick and easy recipe delivers a rich and delicious dish in just 30 minutes! Once tried, pasta alla cipollara can easily become an onion-lovers obsession! A weeknight winner for busy households and perfect for impressing guests!
*Guanciale is more traditional in Italy, but pancetta works very well, especially if you like it crispy!
Tortellini alla panna (with cream sauce)
This traditional creamy pasta dish can be made with shop-bought tortellini and meat broth, so it’s a super-quick, luxurious weeknight pasta recipe served up in 20-30 minutes! Tortellini alla panna is just as good and easy using vegetarian ingredients making it a versatile family favourite and rich, tasty weeknight treat!
Easy spaghetti frittata from Naples
Spaghetti frittata is a classic Italian kitchen secret weapon! A super-simple recipe traditionally using up leftover spaghetti while creating a delicious dish in less than 30 minutes! The quick and easy combination of eggs, parmesan and pancetta with leftover (or newly cooked!) spaghetti produces a really tasty ‘pasta pie’, which can be served hot or cold. Ideal for weeknight eats with a salad, a buffet dish or an anytime snack!
Sausage Rigatoni alla Zozzona from Rome
This sensational sausage pasta recipe is sure to become a family favourite! A rich and filling dish traditionally created for using up mainstay kitchen leftovers whilst producing a super-quick hearty meal for farm workers and families. If you don’t have rigatoni, any large-tube pasta will do; adding just sausage, passata, eggs and parmesan to create a bowl of heaven-sent goodness, also ideal as a weeknight pasta treat!
Short fusilli bucati with gorgonzola, pancetta & mushrooms
Blue cheese, bacon and mushroom, what’s not to like? I confess this to be one of my all-time favourite quick and delicious weeknight pasta recipes. I also often make it for visitors as it’s super-easy and very impressive! It’s also a great excuse to buy gorgonzola, leftovers of which will quickly disappear from the fridge in sandwiches or on crackers for tasty snacks!
Seven Ps Pasta Recipe from Tuscany (Penne alle Sette P)
Yes Ps! That’s what you’ll say once you’ve tried this exquisite seven Ps pasta recipe! All the ingredients begin with the letter ‘p’ in Italian, which makes it sound far more complicated than it actually is! In just 30 minutes you can serve up a light, full-flavoured super-quick weeknight pasta dish.
Ideal when fresh peas are available, although frozen peas work just as well, perfectly complementing the leeks (porre), pancetta, cream (panna) and tomatoes (pomodori).
Creamy Ham and Tomato Penne al Baffo
Ham has become such a popular, versatile staple in kitchens across the world that leftovers are commonly to hand for last minute sandwiches and late-night snacks! So let me change your ‘leftovers life’: Creamy Ham and Tomato Penne al Baffo! This quick, simple and unbelievably tasty recipe brings new life to leftover ham, creating a rich, creamy bowl of goodness served up in the time it takes to cook the pasta! You’re welcome!
Let me know what you think!
If you do try any of these weeknight pasta recipes from Italy, I’d love to hear what you think. Please write a comment here on the blog or post a comment on the Pasta Project Facebook page.
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Buon Appetito!
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