Pasta recipes

It would appear i have a pasta monster on my hands, very weird seeing as his brothers hate it he gets it from me

Anyway, was hoping for some quick and easy pasta sauces, im hopeless and begrudge buying the baby made ones, need a cheap alternative

Our favourite is:
spaghetti
tomato and onion sauce (chop two onions, gently fry then simmer in 700g of passata)
spinach (defrost 1/2 pack frozen leaf spinach in simmering water, then squeeze all the water out)
a tub of ricotta

We serve it layered in that order

Creamy pesto and spinach.

Just a spoon of pesto with some cream freche and spinach leaves.

Mmmmm yummy! He has a big thing for pesto, hadnt thought of adding the creme in too, i worry about him having to much of it as he has the same as me, so will be good to add something into it....

Frances that sounds yummy! Do you add meat? We eat alot of Quorn so could i add their mince in?

Frances that sounds yummy! Do you add meat? We eat alot of Quorn so could i add their mince in?

We're veggie; I find it's rich and filling enough with the ricotta, but you could add quorn to the passata and simmer for 15 mins

Philadelphia makes a really nice, and quick pasta sauce.....just melt it in a pan! The garlic and herb one goes really nicely on pasta

You can add pretty much anything to it too....quorn pieces are nice, as is ham/bacon mushrooms, spinach, tomatoes......

we like mushroom tagliatelle here, with a cream sauce, we put garlic in and some herbs too, goes down ok with my fussy eater!

Molly is a pasta monster too, so I try to vary what goes on it (for my own sake as I usually end up having it for my lunch at the same time!)

- pesto (red, green, whatever!)
- basic tomato sauce (tinned tomatoes, onion, garlic, grated carrot, mixed herbs, optionally add tomato puree, splash of red wine, other veg etc)
- cream and cheese sauce (literally just a little cream, heated with grated cheese til it melts. you could fry up some onion and garlic if you're more enthusiastic, and goes well with chopped ham and broccoli in the sauce)
- make tiny meatballs from good sausages and add to sauce or serve on the side
- chopped chorizo sausage, dry-fried in a pan then add either cream, soft cheese or tomato sauce.
- some soups, like tomato, cream of mushroom or cream of chicken make great pasta sauces.
- halloumi cheese is a really yummy alternative to meat in pasta sauces, although im not sure how salty it is.

If you make a big batch of pasta sauce you can freeze it in those little weaning trays (and if you get fresh pasta from supermarkets then you've got a 2 minute meal!). If you're using tinned tomatoes you may like to add a tsp of sugar to the sauce to take the tanginess away and reduce the need for extra salt (although the more expensive brands seem less tangy, but I only buy them on special offer!)

I've also found that some supermarket brand jarred sauces are much lower in salt than more expensive brands, so it may be worth a look. Molly loves those filled pastas like tortellini etc, served just with tomato sauce or cream and cheese.

Right, tonight im doing Gayleygoos basic pasta sauce with spinach and ricotta (taken from frances recipe)