Summertime, and the pasta is easy-breezy

Four pasta recipes to have on high rotation during the warmer months.

Deli cabinet pasta salad with chilli, parmesan and sunflower seed dressing

The key here is in the quality of the ingredients – a decent mix of deli goods will maximise the flavour. The sunflower seed dressing is the kind of dressing that gets along with everyone – exactly what you want with all the layers of flavour going on here.

I kept it fairly simple with the deli goods but outside of what I used here, you could include grilled and marinated eggplant, charred pumpkin and roasted peppers – all would work well. I've also left the oil in the dressing fairly variable – the key is to add it slowly, you want just enough to coat everything without drowning it in dressing.

INGREDIENTS

• 250g rigatoni
• 2 cups mixed deli vegetables, roughly chopped (I used smoked semi-dried tomatoes, dried Greek olives and feta-stuffed olives)
• 1 bunch broccolini, blanched and refreshed, cut into bite-sized pieces
• ½ cup smoked almonds, roughly chopped
• ½ red chilli, deseeded, finely sliced
• 1 cup loosely packed basil leaves, coarsely torn
• ½ cup loosely packed flat-leaf parsley leaves, chopped

Dressing

• ¾ cup sunflower seeds
• ½ cup grated parmesan
• 1 tsp chilli flakes
• ½-1 cup excellent quality olive oil

METHOD

1. To make the dressing, add the sunflower seeds, parmesan and chilli flakes to a mortar and pestle and give a quick, rough crush – you don't want to pulp it, you just want the oils to release from the seeds and get acquainted with the cheese. Scrape into a bowl and add ½ cup of the olive oil. Stir to combine and set aside. You can also season with salt and pepper, and add more oil depending on the oiliness of your chosen deli veg.
2. Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling water according to packet instructions. Strain and add to a large bowl while still warm, with the deli vegetables, broccolini, almonds and chilli. Stir gently to combine.
3. When ready to serve, add the herbs then slowly drizzle over the dressing. Sometimes the deli vegetables can be quite oily – you don't want this to drown, but enough dressing to add extra oomph and flavour. Serve at room temperature. Any leftovers hold amazingly well covered tightly in the fridge for 1-2 days.

Serves 4

Spaghetti and gin olives

I defined adulthood by the jars of capers lining my fridge drawers and once deep into my adulthood, I judge its freedoms by calling a gin and a bowl of olives a complete meal. This combines all those adult feels in one gloriously simple yet delicious throw-together that can very legitimately be called dinner.

INGREDIENTS

Gin sauce

• 300g Sicilian green olives, pitted, flesh finely chopped
• 1 tbsp baby capers
• zest of 1 lemon
• 50ml gin
• ¼ cup excellent quality olive oil
• 1 cup chopped herbs (I used thyme, flat leaf parsley and basil)

To serve

• about 300g fresh linguine or spaghetti
• 1 tbsp excellent quality olive oil
• generous amount of pecorino

METHOD

1. Add the gin sauce ingredients to a bowl and after a gentle stir to combine, give them at least 20 minutes for the flavours to infuse.
2. Cook your pasta of choice according to packet instructions. Strain and return to pan – no matter if the pasta is still slightly wet. Immediately add the tablespoon of olive oil and toss the pasta to coat.
3. Turn out into a serving bowl. Season with salt and pepper then dollop over the gin sauce – it will warm through in the residual heat of the pasta. Season again and add copious amounts of shaved pecorino. Enjoy.

Serves 4

Prawn pasta with pretend fancy sauce

This is far from the heavy cream-laden pastas, the sauce provides a mere coating for the pasta allowing the prawns and vibrant herbs and veg do their thing. It is such an easy yet tasty meal. I like to pop the sauce on while I am preparing the other ingredients to make this a very quick and achievable midweek meal. Don't panic if you can't get zucchini flowers. The flowers add vibrance and a little texture. The key is to have young, sweet zucchini or as small as you can find.

INGREDIENTS

Pretend fancy sauce

• 1 cup fish stock
• 1 cup white wine
• 1 cup thickened cream
• 25g butter
• 25g grated parmesan
• salt and pepper

Pasta

• 375g fresh fettuccine
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 shallot, very finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 500g raw prawn meat (from about 15 decent-sized prawns, peeled, deveined), roughly chopped
• 5-6 small zucchini flowers, stamen removed, flowers reserved, stems halved lengthways (optional; substitute one small zucchini, cut into rounds)
• ¼ cup firmly packed tarragon leaves, larger leaves coarsely chopped
• ¼ cup flat-leaf parsley
• zest of 1 lemon
• ½ cup shaved parmesan or to taste

METHOD

1. Add all the ingredients for the pretend fancy sauce to a saucepan and place over low heat. Simmer for about 20 minutes while you prepare everything else. It's important to keep the heat low so that the cream doesn't split while cooking. If it does happen to split, don't panic, just strain through a strainer and any curdled bits will be captured.
2. Bring a pot of water to the boil. Add the pasta and cook until al dente, between 3-5 minutes.
3. While the pasta is cooking, place a frypan over high heat. Add the butter and olive oil and once foaming, add the shallot, garlic and chopped prawn meat and cook, stirring with a wooden spoon for about 30 seconds, then add the zucchini stems, if using, and cook for another 30-45 seconds or until the prawn meat has cooked through.
4. Strain the pasta and add to the frying pan and use tongs to turn and mix through. Gently pour over the pretend fancy sauce, using tongs, again, to move the pasta around the frying pan so it is coated in the sauce. Add the fresh herbs and lemon zest and toss with tongs before adding to serving bowls. Season and top with additional shaved parmesan and serve.

Serves 2 generously, can serve 4

Pasta with peppery jammy tomatoes and burrata

I love slow-roasting tomatoes until they collapse into sweet goodness. They make the perfect jammy sauce for pasta with creamy burrata and the heat of pepper.

INGREDIENTS

Jammy tomatoes

• 750g-1kg mixed medley tomatoes, larger tomatoes halved or quartered
• 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• generous 2 tbsp cracked pepper, plus extra to season
• ¼ cup olive oil
• ¼ cup red wine
• 375g fresh linguine
• 500g medley tomatoes
• 1-2 burrata balls (about 150g total; or buffalo mozzarella if unavailable)
• 1-2 tbsp olive oil
• fresh basil leaves to scatter (optional)

METHOD

1. Preheat oven to 150C fan-forced (170C conventional).
2. For the jammy tomatoes, add the tomatoes, balsamic vinegar, 1 tablespoon of the brown sugar and the olive oil to a large baking tray lined with baking paper and use your hands to coat the tomatoes in the oil, sugar, pepper and vinegar mixture. Pop in the oven and cook for 1 hour.
3. Remove and transfer the tomatoes and any tray juices to a saucepan. Add the remaining tablespoon of sugar and the red wine and place over low heat and simmer for about 15 minutes while you prepare the other ingredients – you want it to have whole and squishy tomatoes all in together and be the consistency of a jam or slightly runny jam.
4. Bring a large pot of water to the boil. Add the pasta and cook according to packet instructions.
5. While the pasta is cooking, add another 500 grams of fresh medley tomatoes to the jam mixture. The aim isn't to cook them rather warm them through and create a nice contrasting texture to the slow-cooked tomatoes.
6. Strain pasta and add to serving plate. Scoop over the tomato mixture and nestle in the ball of burrata. Drizzle with a tablespoon or two of olive oil and scatter over basil leaves, if using. Season very generously with pepper before serving.

Serves 4