21 Go-To Pasta Recipes You'll Make for the Rest of Your Life

While some vodka sauce recipes lean on the creamy side, this version is more tomato-forward, loaded with bits of broken-down tomatoes and onion. The tomatoes are cooked for nearly an hour before the cream is added, concentrating their deep umami flavor. 

We didn't think spaghetti and clams could get better than the garlicky classic until chef Ashley Christensen of Poole's Diner in Raleigh, North Carolina, created a version that forever changed the way we look at this dish.

Fresh spinach ravioli are a clever shortcut for making lasagna: Each ravioli is already a mini layer of pasta, cheese and vegetable. This recipe is especially fast to make using pre-roasted or grilled vegetables from the deli counter.

Here's one of the quickest pesto sauces you'll come across. It's a perfect match for cheese tortellini, but you can use other tortellini such as mushroom or meat instead. The pesto is also great with just about any plain pasta.

This recipe is great for people who have lots of half-finished bags of different types of pasta at home. While the different pasta shapes cook at different rates in the water, they all become tender once baked.

A judicious amount of heavy cream enriches this simple tomato sauce, producing a lush texture that clings to the pasta without blanketing richness. Crushing the canned tomatoes by hand creates a rustic mixture of tomato pulp, pieces, and puree. 

There's a reason this one's so popular these days. Made with Pecorino Romano, a tangy aged sheep's-milk cheese originally from Rome, and lots of freshly ground black pepper, cacio e pepe is simple, yet, flavor-packed pasta dish.

Tortelli is extremely silky and supple, which makes it excellent with the creamy ricotta-and-spinach filling.

This clever, quick and easy mac and cheese recipe eliminates the baking time, as well as the need for a white sauce.

This rustic and gooey lasagna is packed with cheese and sausage. The style is called free-form because the pasta can be arranged in different ways—for instance, folded over the filling—instead of traditionally layered.

A combination of ground beef, pork, veal and tomato is enriched by smoky pancetta in this Bolognese sauce.

This deliciously moist macaroni gratin is a far cry from American macaroni and cheese. Chef Benoît Guichard cooks the pasta in milk, then cools the cooking liquid down with ice cubes, a technique that keeps the macaroni from drying out.

Mildly sweet and super creamy, caramelized plantains and nutty Parmesan form a silky sauce that drapes over spaghetti in this recipe by game-changing chef Eric Rivera. Choose very ripe plantains, with a mostly or completely black peel. Cilantro stems add a pop of crunch and freshness along with their tender leaves; chop them finely for the garnish.

Chef Andrew Carmellini uses Calabrian 'nduja, the spicy, spreadable sausage, to bring loads of delicious heat and flavor to his silky carbonara.

In matching spicy sausage with a creamy mustard sauce and fragrant basil, British cookbook author Nigel Slater created a quick pasta supper with warm, mildly spicy flavors.

Ready to go at a moment's notice, this asparagus-embellished classic is not only creamy, quick, and delicious, but it dirties only one pot.

This is the fastest way to make really good baked ziti. The key is to doctor good-quality jarred tomato sauce with ground meat, onion, garlic and spices. Once the meat is browned, everything comes together quickly and the dish bakes up to gooey cheesy perfection in just 15 minutes.

If you've never made pasta before, pasta expert Meryl Feinstein recommends starting with pici, a thick, hand-rolled spaghetti from Siena that looks like a plump udon noodle.

Swap out fresh pasta for wonton wrappers in this recipe, which will showcase for the nutty brown butter, delicate young pecorino cheese and fresh marjoram better than fresh pasta.

Quickly blanched greens and sizzling scallions and garlic meet in a surprisingly creamy vegan sauce for pasta, with a touch of white miso for added depth. Feel free to top with your favorite grated plant-based cheese, or just enjoy it all on its own.

Dry pasta and meatballs get baked with mozzarella and marinara in this genius shortcut recipe.