3 easy pasta sauce hacks that you need to know

Every Monday I begin my week by peeling, chopping, steaming, liquidising and portioning fruits and vegetables before finally freezing teaspoon amounts in ice cube trays. As a new mom, I make sure to carve out time between work and my son’s naps for his meal prep. But I rarely have the time to do the same for myself. The result? A happy, healthy baby and a mama whose diet mainly comprises drive- through cheeseburgers.

In an effort to make sure the entire family is getting a hearty meal without cutting into my precious few hours of sleep, I got creative with one of my favourite dishes: pasta. They’re far too good not to share. These three extraordinarily simple pasta dishes can be thrown together using pantry staples in 30 minutes or less.

Easy creamy pasta using canned mushroom soup
Enough with the peeling and chopping! Get your hands on good-quality canned mushroom soup, heat it on the stove, toss in some cooked penne and season to taste.

Tips to enhance the dish:
Add some leftover chicken or extra mushrooms if you happen to have some in the fridge. Other veggies like broccoli also make for a great addition. Frozen vegetables work just as well. For more flavour add garlic flakes, chilli flakes and dried herbs. For a richer, creamier sauce, you can add a dash of cream – I’ve always got a little lurking in the fridge – but the ultimate creamy pasta hack is cream cheese. Trust me on this one. Finish it off with some parmesan or mozzarella.

Flavourful pasta al pomodoro with canned tomatoes, tomato paste and dried herbs
In a pan, add one diced onion – only if you happen to have one – some fresh garlic or garlic flakes, canned tomatoes (you could even get the kind that already has onion and garlic in it) and a tablespoon or so of tomato paste. Let it simmer away on the stove with the tiniest amount of boiling water, just so it doesn’t burn. After about 20-30 minutes, it’s done! Liquidise, season to taste and toss in some linguine.

Tips to enhance the dish:
Add some dried (or fresh – whatever you’ve got readily available at home) herbs (basil and/or coriander are great additions). You can also toss through fresh cherry tomatoes and add a protein. I’ve always got a stash of meatballs in the freezer.

Viral chilli oil noodles with a real kick
By now you must have seen this viral chilli oil noodle trend. It makes for the perfect quick dinner. Just throw together ginger, garlic, chilli flakes, soy sauce and rice wine vinegar and pour over hot oil to toss your cooked noodles in. That’s it. That’s the whole recipe. And it’s a flavour bomb!

Tips to enhance the dish:
In a rush instant noodles will do the job, but Asian-style wholewheat noodles are much healthier and you can barely taste the difference. To give the dish more flavour and some much-needed vibrancy, add chopped spring onions, coriander and roasted nuts. Some fresh chilli goes a long way too, if you can handle the heat.

Switch up your noodles every so often with one last secret ingredient: peanut butter. This pairs particularly well with peanut noodles, much like dan dan noodles. Simply add a teaspoon or two and prepare for a taste bud explosion.

ALSO READ: Top chefs tell us what quick pasta meals they throw together at home