Student-friendly pasta recipes

Now I think it’s obligatory at this point to say that students are supposed to be a certain stereotype when it comes to cooking. Pot noodles, microwave meals, etc. But what if I could tell you there are some amazingly simple pasta recipes out there that you can create extremely easily, and on a student-friendly budget. After all, who doesn’t like pasta right? Here are my two favourite pasta recipes!

Spaghetti Carbonara

So there are obviously two ways to go about making a carbonara – the student way and the Italian way. But what if I could tell you that the Italian way was just as simple?

Ingredients;

• 2 eggs
• 200g spaghetti
• 3 rashers of streaky bacon, chopped
• ½ tsp mixed herbs
• ½ tsp ground garlic 
• 75g grated parmesan 
• Salt & pepper
• ½ tsp oil

Steps;

1. In a saucepan, boil some water and add the spaghetti. Use some tongs to make sure all the spaghetti is covered.
2. In a frying pan, add the chopped bacon and fry with the garlic until crispy. Once done, move to one side.
3. In a bowl, separate the eggs and keep the yolks to one side (this is what we’re using). Then add the cheese, herbs, salt and pepper and mix until combined.
4. Once the spaghetti is cooked (after around 8 minutes), add it to the frying pan with the bacon and garlic and stir. Add the egg yolk-cheese mixture and combine. Add a little pasta water and mix until the pasta becomes creamy.
5. Serve with some parmesan on top! 

Cajun Chicken Pasta Bake

Pasta bake is another staple to have as a student, but this time I don’t mean just grabbing a jar of sauce and adding it to a dish. This one’s just as easy, but so much healthier!

Ingredients;

• 200g penne pasta
• 1 carton of passata
• 1 tbsp tomato puree
• 1 tsp crushed garlic
• 1 chicken breast
• 1 tbsp cajun chicken seasoning (jar) 
• ½ red pepper
• 1 onion
• 50g peas (optional)

Steps;

1. Chop up your chicken into small slices and place in a bowl with the cajun chicken seasoning.
2. Chop up your red pepper and onion and put to the side.
3. In a saucepan, boil some water and add the pasta. 
4. In a frying pan, heat the oil and add the chicken. Once it goes white, add the onion and pepper and fry until golden. 
5. Add the crushed garlic and tomato puree, mix and leave to cook out for 2 minutes.
6. Add the carton of passata, some pasta water, peas and some more cajun seasoning. 
7. Drain the pasta, add to the frying pan and mix well. Add it to an oven-proof dish with some grated cheese. Leave in the oven for 10 minutes until the cheese has melted.
8. Serve up with some garlic bread!

Note: The chicken can easily be replaced with a meat-free substitute like the Quorn chicken-style pieces.