5 Quick Pasta Dishes That You Can Cook in 20 Minutes | Recipes

Super tasty and on the table in 40 minutes or less! Quick pasta dishes are perfect when you need to cook quickly with friends. Vegetarian? These 5 recipes for quick pasta dishes are guaranteed to hit the spot for you, too!

Sometimes you just have to be quick in the kitchen. When hunger, empty stomachs or time pressure strike again, quick pasta dishes are just the thing. Because cooking with friends doesn’t automatically mean organising hours-long cooking sessions in the kitchen with at least three courses.

With a few fresh ingredients, aromatic herbs and delicious sauces, you can refine quick pasta dishes and ensure pure enjoyment in no time. These creations are therefore ideal for a cooking evening with friends!

If you are looking for something more unusual for your cookery evening, you will find some unusual recipes with different themes at Abenteuer Freundschaft!

Our Top 5 Favourites for Quick Pasta Dishes

1. Cucchini and tomato macaroni with scampi
2. Linguine in salmon cream sauce with spinach leaves
3. Spaghetti and minced meat casserole with vegetables
4. Vegetarian avocado-paprika pasta with cress
5. Vegetarian pasta pan with feta, olives and fresh herbs

Courgette and Tomato Macaroni With Scampi – Quick Pasta Dishes #1

Ingredients (for 4 portions)

• 500 g macaroni
• 250 g cocktail tomatoes
• 3 small courgettes
• 125 g mozzarella
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 onion
• 200 g scampi
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• Fresh basil
• Salt, pepper
• Parmesan cheese

Preparation

First, put the water on and cook the macaroni in heavily salted water until al dente. Important: Set aside 1 cup of the pasta water when draining.

While the pasta is cooking, chop the vegetables. Peel and finely dice the onion. Then finely chop the garlic and add half the garlic and the diced onion to the scampi in a bowl with 1 tbsp olive oil and mix.

Wash the 3 courgettes, cut them lengthwise 1-2 times and cut them into even pieces of approx. 3 cm x 1 cm.

The courgette pieces should not be too small so that they retain their bite. Then halve the cocktail tomatoes and put 8 halves aside for decoration. Cut the mozzarella into rough cubes.

Now add 1 tbsp olive oil, the finely chopped garlic and the courgette pieces to a frying pan and fry at medium temperature for about 5 minutes, turning frequently. Now add the cocktail tomato halves and fry at a low temperature. Season discreetly with salt and fresh pepper.
In a second pan, fry the scampi marinated with garlic, onion and olive oil for about 3 minutes. Remove the scampi from the pan and add to the decorative cocktail tomatoes. Use the cup of pasta water to swirl out the scampi pan and pour it into the vegetables. Add the vegetables and the mozzarella cubes to the macaroni and mix.  

Now, on the plates, arrange the pasta in the centre of the plate. Arrange the scampi on top of the pasta and place 2 basil leaves on each plate with the cocktail tomato halves as decoration. Finally, cut 8 leaves of basil into rough pieces and sprinkle over the pasta together with coarsely grated Parmesan. Season with pepper and salt to taste. Serve the pasta immediately!

Working time: 20 minutes.

Linguine in Salmon Cream Sauce With Spinach Leaves – Quick Pasta Dishes #2

Ingredients (serves 4)

• 500 g Linguine (oder Bandnudeln)
• 250 g smoked salmon
• 2 salmon steaks
• 500 g leaf spinach
• 200 g cherry tomatoes
• 200 ml dry white wine
• 400 ml cream
• 1 onion
• 1 bunch spring onions
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 tsp sugar
• ½ lemon
• 1 bunch chopped dill
• Nutmeg, salt, pepper
• Olive oil for frying
• Roasted walnut kernels

Preparation

Put on the pasta water and cook the linguines until al dente.

Meanwhile, split the 2 salmon steaks once and fry in olive oil over medium heat with 1 clove of coarsely chopped garlic until the salmon is cooked through. Remove from the pan and set aside.  

For the cream sauce, dice the onion, cut the spring onions into rings and finely chop the garlic. Wash and halve the cherry tomatoes. Add the onion and garlic to the pan and sauté. Deglaze with the white wine. Now add the cream and salt well. Add the sugar, the juice of half a lemon, pepper and fresh nutmeg and stir.

Add the leaf spinach to the sauce and cook for about 10 minutes with the lid closed. Stir from time to time. Now add the pieces of salmon, the roughly chopped smoked salmon and half of the cherry tomato halves and cook for another 5 minutes. Season to taste with pepper, nutmeg and salt.

Meanwhile, briefly fry the spring onions with the walnut kernels in a pan.

Serve the linguine with the salmon spinach cream sauce on the plates and sprinkle the toasted walnut kernels and spring onions on top at the end.

Working time: 25 minutes

Spaghetti Mince Casserole With Vegetables – Quick Pasta Dishes #3

Ingredients (for 4 people)

• 500 g spaghetti
• 2 onions
• 1 large clove of garlic
• 500 g minced beef
• 1 tin of tomatoes
• 2 small courgettes
• 1 aubergine
• 2 carrots
• 1 tbsp tomato purée
• 200 ml stock
• 125 g mozzarella
• 75 g parmesan
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 3 tsp fresh parsley and chives
• salt, pepper, hot paprika, chilli pepper
• Butter to grease the casserole dish

Preparation

Bring the water to the boil and cook the spaghetti until very firm to the bite – it must never be cooked through!

Meanwhile, place the mince in a frying pan and fry in olive oil over a medium heat. Cut the onion and garlic into small cubes, add them and fry, turning frequently, until the mince is well browned.

At the same time, the other friends can already cut the aubergine, courgettes and carrots into roughly equal pieces. Finally, add the vegetables to the minced meat and fry briefly. Deglaze with the stock. Add the tinned tomatoes, 1 tbsp tomato purée and season well with salt, pepper, paprika powder and chilli. Simmer for another 5 minutes with the lid closed.

Now cut the Mozzarella into small cubes and grate the Parmesan roughly. Chop the herbs and grease the casserole dish with butter.

Place half of the spaghetti in the casserole dish. Spread half of the mozzarella over it and pour the minced meat and vegetable sauce with the fresh herbs over it. Finally, sprinkle the remaining mozzarella and the Parmesan over the top.

Cook in the oven at 200 degrees for about 20 minutes and serve immediately.

Working time: 20 minutes+ 20 minutes cooking time in the oven.

Vegetarian Avocado Pepper Pasta with Cress – Quick Pasta Dishes #4

Ingredients (for 4 people)

• 500 g fusilli or penne (wholemeal pasta is best)
• 2 ripe avocados
• 3 peppers
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1 onion
• 3 tbsp lemon juice
• 3 tbsp tomato paste
• 200 g natural yoghurt
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• Salt, pepper, chilli, paprika powder sweet
• 75 g pine nuts
• 50 g parmesan
• 1 pot of cress

Preparation

First cut the ripe avocados in half and peel off the skin. This should be easy with ripe avocados. Put the flesh in a blender with the lemon juice, 1 tbsp olive oil, 2 cloves of garlic and the yoghurt and puree finely. Season to taste with salt, pepper and chilli.

Cook the noodles according to the package instructions until al dente.

Meanwhile, finely dice the onion and finely chop the garlic. Now wash the peppers and cut them into rough cubes. Put 3 tbsp olive oil in a pan and fry the peppers for about 5 minutes. Now add the onion and garlic so that they don’t burn. Continue frying until the peppers have the desired firmness to the bite. Next, mix the tomato paste with 3 tablespoons of water and add it. Finally, add the pasta, mix everything well and season with fresh pepper, salt and paprika powder. Best of all, fry the whole thing again for about 5 minutes.

Parallel to this, roast the pine nuts in a well-coated pan without oil over a low heat until they are lightly browned and fragrant.

Divide the pepper pasta onto pasta plates. Place a generous tablespoon of avocado cream on each portion. Cut the cress with scissors and arrange decoratively on the edge of the plate and the avocado cream in the middle. Sprinkle the toasted pine nuts over the top and coarsely grate the Parmesan over the top at the end.

Working time: 30 minutes.

Vegetarian Pasta Pan With Feta, Olives and Fresh Herbs- Quick Pasta Dishes #5

Ingredients (serves 4)

• 500 g penne (or fusilli)
• 1 aubergine
• 2 courgettes
• 2 cans chopped tomatoes
• 1 onion
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 150 g feta
• 150 g cherry tomatoes
• 100 g olives
• 2 tbsp capers
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 4 sprigs rosemary, 1 tsp thyme, 1 tsp fresh parsley
• 150 g rocket
• Salt, pepper, chilli

Preparation

Put the pasta water on to boil and cook the pasta al dente.

Wash the aubergine and courgette and cut into approx. 2 cm cubes. Pluck the fresh herbs from the twigs and chop finely, cut the feta into small cubes and halve the cherry tomatoes.

For the vegetable sauce, finely chop the garlic cloves and onion and add to the pan with the olive oil. Add the aubergine and courgettes to the pan and fry over a medium heat, turning frequently. When the onion and garlic are browning, add the tomatoes and simmer for about 5 minutes. Now add the cherry tomatoes and capers and cook for another 3 minutes until the aubergine is cooked. Season with salt, pepper, chilli and the fresh herbs.

Mix the vegetables with the pasta. Place a bed of ruccola leaves on each plate. Pile the pasta in the middle. Sprinkle with olives and the feta cubes and eat immediately!

Working time: 30 minutes.

Good appetite!

On Abenteuer Freundschaft you can find many more indoor activities and general tips for activities with friends, with kids and with your partner.

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