What can I make with tin of tomatoes and pasta?

The takeaway menu is tempting when the cupboards look bare, but before you spend twenty quid on something that arrives lukewarm in half an hour, check your kitchen again. A tin of tomatoes and some dried pasta is more than enough for a proper dinner, and you probably have other bits lurking in the fridge or cupboard that will turn this basic pairing into something genuinely satisfying.

The trouble with most recipe sites is they assume you have exactly what their ingredient list demands. They cannot see that you have half a jar of olives going soft, or that the mushrooms need using tonight, or that someone left a chunk of cheese at the back of the fridge. A tin of tomatoes and pasta is a starting point, not a constraint.

Quick dinner ideas with tinned tomatoes and pasta

Simple tomato pasta with whatever needs using. Warm the tomatoes with garlic if you have it, crush them down a bit, and let them simmer while the pasta cooks. Toss them together and finish with anything that wants eating: torn mozzarella, wilted spinach, a handful of frozen peas, grated hard cheese, fresh basil or even a spoon of mascarpone. It works because tinned tomatoes are already seasoned and concentrated, so they carry whatever you add.

Baked pasta when you want something more substantial. Mix cooked pasta with the tomatoes, add any cooked meat or veg you have knocking about, tip it into an ovenproof dish and cover with cheese or breadcrumbs if you have them. Bake until the top goes golden. This is the dinner that clears out three different containers from the fridge and feels like you made an effort.

Pasta with sausage and tomato. If there are sausages in the fridge or freezer, squeeze the meat out of the skins, fry it until it breaks up and goes crispy at the edges, then add the tinned tomatoes and let everything bubble together. The fat from the sausage makes the sauce rich, and the tomatoes stop it feeling heavy. Stir through the cooked pasta and you have something that tastes like you planned it.

Spicy tomato pasta when the cupboard has chilli or paprika. Fry an onion if you have one, add chilli flakes or smoked paprika, tip in the tomatoes and let it all cook down. This works especially well if you have a tin of chickpeas or beans to bulk it out, or some chorizo that needs using. The warmth from the spice makes tinned tomatoes taste deeper and less sweet.

Why a recipe list will never know your kitchen

Standard recipes tell you to go shopping. They cannot account for the fact that your pasta is penne, not spaghetti, or that you have no fresh basil but plenty of dried oregano. They do not know that the bacon is two days from its date, or that the courgette is going soft. Ask the Kitchen can see what you actually have right now, what is about to go off, and how to turn those bits into tonight's dinner without binning anything or leaving the house.

A tin of tomatoes and pasta is already a meal. Everything else in your fridge and cupboard is just making it better.

More dinners from what you've got

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