Quick Dinner Dishes—Pastas and Noodles

Few dinner chores could be easier than bringing a pot of water to a boil, cooking some pasta and stir-frying veggies and sauce to mix with the pasta.  The meal is hot, hearty, filling and quick—certainly good dinner material.

Spaghetti Aglio e Olio

This Italian dish is so easy that almost all men in Italy know how to cook this.  It’s simple pasta with the homely yet rich tastes of garlic, pepper, olive oil and cheese.  Just the simple supper you’re glad to make.

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 15 minutes

Yield: 4 to 6 servings

Ingredients:

• 1 to 2 cloves garlic, minced
• half of a dried chili pepper, crumbled
• 1/3 cup good olive oil
• 1 lb. spaghetti
• grated Parmigiano or Pecorino Romano (optional)
 

Directions:

• Bring a pot of 6 quarts water to a boil and add the spaghetti. 
• Heat olive oil in a saucepan and sauté the garlic and red pepper in the oil until the garlic turns brown.  Turn off the heat and set the herbs aside.
• When the spaghetti is cooked al dente, drain well and transfer to a serving bowl.  Stir in the sauce gently and serve with grated cheese.
 

Sesame Soba Noodles with Carrots and Snow Peas

Go easy-Asian with this 15-minute noodle dish featuring the Oriental flavors of soy sauce and ginger mixed with peanut butter and honey.  The complex yet balanced outcome makes for a superbly-tasting dish which looks festive when festooned with diagonal bits of snowpeas, ribbons of carrots and fresh cilantro.

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 10 minutes

Yield: 4 to 6 servings

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• ½ tablespoon peanut butter
• ½ tablespoon honey
• 1-inch piece of ginger root, peeled
• 2 bundles of soba noodles (about 6 oz.)
• 1 snowpeas, thinly sliced on a bias
• 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
• 2 medium carrots, peeled and shaved with a peeler into ribbons
• fresh cilantro
 

Directions:

• In a medium bowl, whisk together the soy sauce, peanut butter and honey.  Grate the ginger into the soy sauce mixture and set aside.
• Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add the soba noodles to cook.  When the noodles are a minute away from being cooked (slightly opaque center is seen when you bite into a strand), add in the snowpeas.  Boil for just 30 seconds to a minute more.  Drain through a sieve and rinse under cold running water.  Transfer the drained noodles into a large bowl.
• Stir into the noodles the sesame oil, carrot ribbons and the soy sauce mixture.
• Serve garnished with fresh cilantro.