recipes / Pasta

Pasta for everyday meals and special occasions

Pasta is easy to make and can be varied and prepared in countless ways. Here you’ll find inspiration, tips, and ideas on how to easily whip up tasty, delicious pasta dishes for both everyday meals and special occasions.

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Inspiration for easy and delicious pasta dishes

Pasta dishes can be varied and prepared in countless ways. We love sharing tasty, delicious pasta dishes for both everyday meals and special occasions. Pasta is easy, budget-friendly, and a great base for flavorful meals that are often quick to make and also kid-friendly.
Pasta dishes can be a complete meal on their own, or simply served with a delicious salad and good bread. Some types of pasta are perfect for starters or as a side dish to other meals, such as meat dishes or vegetarian pasta dishes.
Pasta dishes aren’t just practical, easy everyday food—using just a few extra ingredients, you can quickly create a delicious, filling dinner. So whether you’re looking for inspiration for a quick and simple weekday dish or want to impress your taste buds with something extraordinary, our pasta recipes let you explore the exciting world of pasta in new ways.

How to cook the perfect pasta al dente

Perfectly cooked pasta should still have a bite. In Italian, it’s called pasta al dente, which means “to the tooth.” Sticky, overcooked pasta can ruin any pasta dish. Here are a few tips on how to cook the perfect pasta: Pour 1 litre of water per 100 g of pasta into a pot and bring it to a rolling boil. Only then add 10 g of salt per 1 litre of water. If you add the salt earlier, it settles on the bottom and you risk damaging your pot. Don’t add oil to the water before the pasta is cooked, as it can prevent the water from boiling properly. Add the pasta and let the water boil vigorously without a lid. Stir the pot for the first few minutes so the pasta doesn’t stick to the bottom. You’ll need about 100 g of dried pasta per person. Cook the pasta for the number of minutes stated on the package. Dried pasta usually needs 5–7 minutes. It’s a good idea to test it along the way—the pasta is done when it’s soft but al dente, i.e., still has a “bite.” Then stir a little olive oil into the freshly cooked pasta. This doesn’t stop the pasta from sticking, as many believe, but it tastes great.

Bronze-cut pasta is the world’s best pasta

Pasta from Zelected Foods is made using bronze dies and exclusively from the finest durum wheat. This type of pasta differs from regular pasta because it’s created through a unique process. The inner part of the wheat kernel, semolina, is carefully extracted to create pasta of the highest quality. The bronze die gives the pasta a distinctive rough texture, helping the sauce cling better to the pasta’s surface, which means more flavour in every bite. Bronze-cut pasta goes through a careful drying process over a longer time and at lower temperatures compared to regular pasta. This ensures the pasta’s natural flavour and texture are preserved. It’s pasta out of the ordinary—one that can turn any pasta dish into a gastronomic delight.

Know your pasta by type

There are more than 300 different types of pasta, all made from the same simple, traditional ingredients: flour, water, and sometimes eggs. Most pasta types work better in certain dishes than others, so it’s helpful to know the most common types. Italians divide pasta into two groups: lisce (smooth) and rigate (ridged). So if you see the term penne rigate on a bag of pasta in the supermarket, it means ridged penne pasta.

Farfalle
Farfalle is the type of pasta we call “bow-tie pasta” or “butterfly pasta.” These nicely shaped pieces are made by pinching a flat, square, serrated piece of pasta in the middle to form a bow. Farfalle means “butterfly” in Italian. They’re great with cream and tomato sauces, as well as in pasta salads.

Fusilli
Fusilli is often called “pasta spirals” here. Fusilli comes from the Italian word fuso, which means “to spin.” The corkscrew shape is created by spinning the pasta dough around a rod. Pasta spirals are made from flour and water. Fusilli is well suited to rich sauces with, for example, minced beef, pasta salads, and baked pasta dishes.

Linguine
Linguine means “little tongues” in Italian, and the name refers to the shape of this slightly oval, elongated pasta that looks like something between spaghetti and ribbon pasta. The shape is flatter and a bit wider than spaghetti, but otherwise made the same way. Linguine is great with light sauces with meatballs and vegetables, and it also tastes great with, for example, tuna and tiger prawns.

Penne
Penne is a small tube-shaped pasta and one of the most common types, often called “pasta quills” here, and you can find it in most supermarkets. This pasta gets its name from the diagonally cut edges that characterise penne and resemble the tip of a fountain pen. The shape makes it well suited to light sauces like pesto, tomato sauce, and arrabbiata. Penne usually doesn’t contain eggs.

Spaghetti
The name spaghetti comes from the Italian spaghetto, which means string. Spaghetti is a long, thin, cylindrical type of pasta, usually made exclusively from durum wheat and water, which gives it a whiter rather than yellowish colour. Spaghetti is used in a wide range of classic pasta dishes, such as spaghetti bolognese.

Tortiglioni
Tortiglioni is a short, tube-shaped pasta cut straight across and with ridges—i.e., rigate. The ridges are spiral-shaped. Tortiglioni comes from the Italian word meaning “to twist,” which refers to the shape of the ridges. The distinctive design comes from the production process, where the pasta is twisted in the die. Tortiglioni is well suited to creamy pasta dishes with cream sauce because the sauce clings to the pasta’s ridges, but it’s also great in a pasta salad with vegetables.