7 Ways With Penne

When you make a mouth-watering pasta sauce, serve it over penne, tube pasta with slight grooves in the side, to ensure you get maximum flavor in each bite.

If you've never cooked with whole grain pasta, this is the recipe to try. Big, bold flavors–toasted walnuts, caramelized onions, and hard ricotta (ricotta salata)–pair well with the nutty flavor of whole grain noodles.

Recipe: Whole-grain Penne with Walnuts, Caramelized Onions, and Ricotta Salata

In true Tuscan style, this lightning-quick homemade pesto sauce is thickened with breadcrumbs and milk keeping the meatless meal both light and easy. Better yet, this dish goes from kitchen to table in under 30 minutes.

Recipe: Penne in Creamy Basil-Walnut Sauce

When you're feeling lazy, this one-dish salad delivers maximal flavor with minimal effort. While a small sirloin steak cooks under the broiler, pasta and colorful vegetables cook together. For the dressing: balsamic vinaigrette and a sprinkling of blue cheese.

Recipe: Sirloin Steak and Pasta Salad

A creamy sauce that's laced with a subtle hint of sweet and spicy nutmeg makes this shrimp pasta dish special enough for company. But add it to the family menu. Comfort food doesn't get much better than this.

Recipe: Pasta with Spinach, Nutmeg, and Shrimp

Put supper on the table in a flash with this easy, breezy pasta toss. Canned tomatoes, diced eggplant, pork sausage, feta cheese, tomato paste and seasonings cook together in one skillet as the pasta boils. Clean-up is a snap.

Recipe: Penne with Sausage, Eggplant, and Feta

As Sicilian cooks know, raisins and leafy greens are perfect complements in savory recipes. Here the duo is sautéed and tossed with mini penne noodles (pennette) in a 15-minute meal that will make your taste buds stand up and salute.

Recipe: Pasta with Beet Greens and Raisins

Since the chutney and curry sauce are made from scratch, this chicken dish takes a little effort. But the end result is a rich flavored meal bursting with all the exotic flavors of Southeast Asia, including coconut, red curry paste, fish sauce, and mango.

Recipe: Curried Chicken Penne with Fresh Mango Chutney