14 Comforting Pasta Dishes for Cool Fall Evenings

🍝 When it’s dark before supper, it’s pasta night

Somewhere near the end of September, salad just stops cutting it. You want cream, cheese that bubbles under the broiler, a sauce that’s had time to simmer. That’s exactly when pasta shows up.

It asks for little and feeds everyone. Leftovers reheat better than almost anything. There’s a bit of everything here: cacio e pepe made with next to nothing, baked macaroni coming out of the oven still bubbling, pumpkin gnocchi for the season. Pick the one that speaks to you tonight. The rest can wait until next week.

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Creamy Mushroom Pasta Recipe (Bucatini)

A mountain of cremini mushrooms that cooks down in the pan until golden and almost sweet. Dijon, lemon, a little cream and plenty of parmesan to coat the bucatini. You’ll think you added too many mushrooms. You didn’t.

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Creamy farfalle with sun-dried tomatoes

Sun-dried tomatoes, spinach and bell pepper in a cream sauce with smoked paprika and Grana Padano. The trick is the oil from the sun-dried tomato jar: keep it, that’s where the flavour is. A weeknight supper that looks like it came from a restaurant.

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Buffalo Chicken Mac and Cheese

A sharp cheddar and cream cheese sauce kicked up with Buffalo sauce, bacon-wrapped chicken and a crunchy panko crust. All the comfort of mac and cheese, with the heat of Friday night wings.

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Cheesy Beef & Macaroni Casserole

The beef macaroni we grew up on: ground beef, Italian-seasoned tomatoes and a thick layer of melted mozzarella and sharp cheddar. Make it the night before and reheat it in the oven without losing that golden top. Tomorrow’s lunches are sorted.

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Tagliatelle with lemon and forest mushrooms

Dried forest mushrooms brought back to life, shallots, lemon zest and walnuts, all tossed with parmesan and pasta water until creamy. The lemon wakes everything up, the mushrooms do the rest.

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Creamy Sausage Pasta with Spinach and Spaghetti Squash

Casarecce, sausage, spinach and pecorino in a creamy sauce, with roasted spaghetti squash strands tucked in between the noodles. Nobody complains. The squash takes a while in the oven, so get it going first.

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The best blue cheese gnocchi

Gnocchi in a creamy blue cheese sauce with mushrooms, rapini, walnuts and little cubes of blue cheese sausage. Rich and bold. If you like blue cheese, this is your fall bowl.

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Gnocchi gratin with smoked ham, broccoli and chorizo

Gnocchi, smoked ham, broccoli and chorizo in a sharp cheddar béchamel, topped with raclette cheese that bubbles in the oven. One dish, and the whole family is fed.

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Fettuccine Alfredo with roasted acorn squash

Acorn squash roasted with herbes de Provence and blended into the base of a silky Alfredo, with pecorino, cream and crispy bacon. Peeling the squash is the annoying part. The rest practically makes itself.

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Cacio e pepe

Spaghetti, pecorino romano, freshly ground pepper. That’s it. The pasta water turns the cheese into a silky sauce, as long as you don’t rush it. The supper for nights when the fridge is empty.

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Gnocchi with pumpkin and fine herbs sausages

Fresh gnocchi in a pumpkin purée sauce with herb sausage, thyme and pecorino. The whole season in one bowl.

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Rigatoni gratin with duck confit and grilled pancetta

Rigatoni in a homemade tomato and shiitake sauce with duck confit and cubes of crispy pancetta, then baked until bubbly. The dish you bring out when friends come over on an October Saturday.

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Pork and beef cannellonis with homemade tomato sauce

Cannelloni stuffed with ground beef, pork and kale, covered in a fresh homemade tomato sauce and baked with cheese. They take a bit of time to assemble, but they freeze well, so make an extra pan for a busy night.

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Beer mac and cheese

A sauce built on strong blond beer with sharp cheddar, Swiss, parmesan and mascarpone. Grating the cheese by hand is the real work here, and you taste it from the very first bite.

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