Recipes Ingredients Pasta and Grains Quick & Easy Pasta Recipes 15 Fall Pasta Recipes That Make Perfect Weeknight Dinners These hearty fall pasta recipes are packed with autumnal flavors and delicious seasonal ingredients. By Laura Rege Laura Rege Laura is a freelance writer for MarthaStewart.com. Editorial Guidelines and Kirsten Nunez Kirsten Nunez Kirsten Nunez is a writer who focuses on food, health, nutrition, and DIY. She has a master's degree in nutrition, and has been writing professionally for nearly 10 years for digital and print publications, such as Martha Stewart, Shape, Real Simple, Healthline, and SELF. She also creates original recipes, which have appeared on product packaging in stores. Editorial Guidelines Updated on August 16, 2023 Close Photo: Yunhee Kim Both versatile and crowd-pleasing, pasta is one of those pantry staples that is quick and luxurious—that's why it's such a perfect candidate for weeknight dinners, entertaining, or just about any meal. As the weather cools and fall kicks into high gear, you can keep the pasta dishes coming by giving them an autumnal spin with peak vegetables and squash and exploring the heartier side of this favorite dish type. Let our seasonal pasta recipes guide you into the season. 14 One-Pot Dinners That You'll Want to Make on Repeat This Fall 01 of 15 Spaghetti With Butternut Squash and Escarole Sautéed butternut squash adds a fall touch to this seasonal take on spaghetti. Lightly browned butter and creamy ricotta offer a deliciously easy stand-in for traditional sauce. View Recipe 02 of 15 Butternut-and-Boursin Shells Yunhee Kim Fans of mac and cheese won't be disappointed by this decadent version. It's easier than making cheese sauce, and it's packed with vegetable so you can feel good about scooping up seconds. The sauce's bright orange color comes from sweet, nutty butternut squash purée and the luxuriously rich cheesiness is added with creamy garlicky Boursin cheese and pasta cooking water. View Recipe 27 Fall Salad Recipes That Are Packed With Autumn Flavor 03 of 15 One-Pan Pasta Maxwell Cozzi Minimal prep with maximum flavor? Yes, please. This fan-favorite linguine dish is one of our most popular recipes and sure to become your weeknight dinner go-to. Cherry and grape tomatoes are available in clamshells year-round, lending the dish a hint of tomato acidity without a long simmer on the stove. View Recipe 04 of 15 Pasta With Salmon, Broccoli Rabe and Garlic Try this bold, unexpected penne on a chilly fall night. Combine canned wild salmon with robust broccoli rabe, garlic, and Pecorino Romano cheese. For a milder taste, sub any fall hearty green such as kale or collard greens for the broccoli rabe and feel free to try canned tuna instead of salmon—it will be just as delicious. View Recipe 05 of 15 Cacio e Pepe With Lemon Totally simple and absolutely irresistible, this classic pasta is made with elemental ingredients like cheese and freshly cracked pepper. It's dinner party-worthy and also one of the easiest pasta dishes to put together on a busy fall night. Simply put, this impressive dish never disappoints. Keep the ingredients on hand and dinner is just minutes away. View Recipe 06 of 15 Rigatoni With Sausage and Fennel This simple sausage and fennel pasta brings plenty of rich fall flavor to the table. Give the dish a restaurant-style finish by drizzling it with olive oil and garnishing with fennel fronds, lemon wedges, and arugula. And don't skip the extra Parmesan! View Recipe 07 of 15 Spaghetti With Brussels Sprouts and Bacon Yunhee Kim Add pasta to the winning pairing of Brussels and bacon and you have a full meal. This 30-minute entrée pairs crispy bacon and lightly caramelized Brussels sprouts with everyone's favorite long noodle in an easy, cheesy sauce. View Recipe 08 of 15 Spaghetti With Shrimp and Olives Shrimp might seem light and summery—especially when paired with cherry tomatoes—but by adding rosemary, capers, and olives to the mix, the result is one hearty and totally delicious dish autumnal meal. Bonus points: This entrée will be on the table in just 20 minutes. View Recipe 09 of 15 Gemelli With Red Cabbage, Beet, and Prosciutto Johnny Miller Boiling pasta with beets lends a striking hue to gemelli, a short pasta, while also cooking the beets at the same time. Accentuate the pink pasta with sautéed red cabbage and onion and top it all off with rosy crisps of prosciutto—dinner will be very colorful and tasty. View Recipe 10 of 15 Skillet Shrimp and Orzo Hector Sanchez This paella-inspired, one-pan recipe is fancy enough for company but also easy enough for a quick dinner. Al dente pieces of orzo take the place of the usual rice in this dish; they soak up the tomato-based sauce and plenty of shrimp flavor. View Recipe 11 of 15 Creamy Baked Ziti Bryan Gardner Feed a crowd with this creamy baked ziti, which is perfect for when the weather starts to cool and you want to get back to cooking in the oven. For a spin, instead of ricotta, this version uses a favorite ingredient: cream cheese. It's a total win. View Recipe 12 of 15 Test Kitchen's Favorite Spaghetti and Meatballs Alpha Smoot What's the secret to really delicious meatballs? The answer isn't breadcrumbs! Our test kitchen's favorite recipe swaps out some of the ground beef for chopped mushrooms, which adds rich umami flavor that's just right for fall. In addition to being totally delicious, these meatballs also reduce meat consumption and increase vegetable intake. View Recipe 13 of 15 Ravioli With Roasted Eggplant, Tomatoes, and Capers Kate Sears This easy weeknight riff on pasta alla Norma upgrades store-bought cheese ravioli by tossing it with a hearty mix of roasted eggplant, cherry tomatoes, shallots, and capers. Making the sauce in the oven frees you from attending to it on the stovetop and the ravioli cooks up in minutes. View Recipe 14 of 15 One-Pan Orecchiette With Chickpeas and Olives Alpha Smoot Another one-pan wonder, orecchiette's indented shape create the perfect cradle for a creamy pan sauce with bites of chickpeas and Kalamata olives. Woody rosemary lends hearty fall flavor and a fresh baby arugula adds a peppery green finish. View Recipe 15 of 15 Healthy Pumpkin Pasta Raymond Hom Not your typical fall pasta recipe, this dish leans on salty anchovies and toasted walnuts for flavor and protein. Both ingredients are balanced roasted sugar pumpkin, which is naturally sweetened with honey. View Recipe Was this page helpful? 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