8 Hearty Autumn Pasta Recipes We Love

1. Giant Ravioli with Spinach, Ricotta, and Egg Yolk
Looking for a dish that will impress a dinner guest? These giant ravioli are cooked with an egg yolk inside, so that they burst and break open as soon as you cut into them. The egg yolk mixes with the ricotta and spinach, forming a pasta sauce right before your very eyes.

2. Linguine with Mussels and Clams
This classic New England dish is made with two of our favorite bivalves served still in their shells, then loaded with tons of garlic, butter, and white wine.

3. Lobster Fra Diavolo
If you ever get bored with eating steamed lobster dipped in butter (a fate that is admittedly hard to imagine), try tossing the cooked meat with a spicy tomato sauce.

4. Orecchiette with Yellow Squash, Corn and Bacon
This pasta dish is like Autumn in a bowl, and makes a perfect way to use up any remaining squash from this year’s harvest.

5. Linguine Carbonara with Mushrooms & Red Pepper
A true carbonara uses no additional cream; the beaten eggs, hot pasta, mounds of Parmesan cheese, and a dab of pasta water combine to make a silky-smooth sauce for the pancetta-and-mushroom studded linguine.

6. Pumpkin Orecchiette with Spinach and Sage
It’s creamy and a little spicy, a tiny bit sweet with a hint of nutmeg, packed with orange and green nutrients, and, of course, our favorite pasta of the moment, those darling little ears, orecchiette.

7. Short Ribs with Tagliatelle
There’s something about taking inexpensive, tough cuts of meat, and slowly, over the course of a cool, rainy autumn Friday, turning them into tender, fall-off-the-bone hunks of succulent flavor and fat, that is immeasurably satisfying. It’s the kind of thing dads seem to know how to do automatically, and it’s high time you learn it, too.

8. Handmade Ricotta Cavatelli with Pepperoni Tomato Sauce
This is going to require patience. But it’s worth it. This is a pasta you make by hand. It is a little labor-intensive, so set aside some time to get the hang of the roll. The light, creamy cavatelli pair well with the spicy, sweet pepperoni sauce. Here’s how it’s done.

About the Author: Malcolm Bedell

My first memories of cooking start in Maine at six years old, when I wore a yellow rainslicker to avoid getting spattered by the bacon I was frying in a skillet. My interest in both Mexican cooking and recreating classic New England dishes from scratch developed while living in Mexico, on a steady diet of pork and habanero peppers. You can see more of my writing and photography online on Serious Eats, the Huffington Post, BlogHer, and Foodista, as well as in print for Downeast, Indulge, and Cigar Snob magazines.