Our list of angel hair pasta recipes is here to inspire your next meal!
Legend has it that Marco Polo, gallivanting around China, was so besotted by the noodles he’d eaten there that when he returned home to Italy in 1295, they returned with him.
And thus, pasta came into being. It’s a lovely story, to be sure, but not true — though we don’t much care.
Today’s column goes out to Polo himself: here’s 15 angel hair pasta recipes to get all tangled up in.
And don’t mistake angel hair pasta for vermicelli—it’s made of different stuff.
It’s days like this, when we hardly feel like being in the kitchen that we’ll put a pot of capellini (angel hair pasta) to boil and challenge ourselves to work out what we’re going to do with it in the five minutes it takes for it to cook.
Oftentimes, the answer is simply to toss it with fresh tomatoes and herbs and slurp it right out of the pan — it’s that good.
And we would’ve kept at it, too, if we hadn’t made the (beginner’s!) mistake of eating it twice daily every day this week.
We love this Garlic Pasta Sauce and use it on everything.
Needless to say, it’ll be some time before we can return to our favorite without it feeling all played-out.
Here’s what’s been looking good in the meantime. From delicate but hearty Angel Hair Noodles With Arugula And
Pistachios to twist on a classic Garlic Shrimp Scampi With Angel Hair to the full-on Seared Salmon And Angel Hair Pasta, you’ll leave a plate out for us, won’t you?
Artichokes take a little work to prepare but they’re well worth the effort and the rest of this dish comes together very quickly afterwards.
It’s a lovely, light lunch or dinner with an intriguing mildly-bitter lilt to it — it’d be great alongside a Lemon Vodka Cocktail or cider.
Looking for an easy angel hair pasta recipe?
The magic of this recipe is that cooking the pasta has the wonderful side-effect of also cooking the sauce.
The sauce is pasta-water, garlic, oil, mushrooms, asparagus and chili all cooked in the same pan as the noodles — genius, isn’t it?
This bright, beautiful dish reminds us of sunshine and warms us much the same.
Follow with a slice of rich, decadent ice cream cake.
Don’t be fooled by capers’ diminutive appearance — they pack a mighty punch.
Here they’ve been used to masterful effect in a superbly simple dish that pays big dividends in flavor!
This’ll really come into its own with a nice chianti for company.
Bright, punchy lemon, pungent, assertive garlic in a tangle of butter-slippery noodles — it’s like somersaults in your mouth!
The pinnacle of summer-y angel hair pasta dishes.
This delicately flavored dish of fish and pasta will make a wonderful, delicious centerpiece at any table.
Unfailingly comforting and blissfully light, it’s perfect for days you don’t much feel like eating at all.
Sure beats going to bed on a supper of toast, at any rate.
There are days when all you want is a warm, steaming bowl of silky brown butter pasta with salty parmesan.
And on those days we say — it’s easy to indulge in angel hair pasta meals.
This warming, rustic Italian classic is utterly delicious.
The perfect harmony of tart, jammy sauce and silky capellini.
Serve with fresh basil and a generous dusting of pecorino.
Some snobs maintain that cream’s got no place in a tomato sauce. Hogwash, all of it — it’s delicious.
Keep a chunk of crumby, well-buttered bread on stand-by to soak up all the excess sauce; you’ll be glad you did.
Angel hair pasta ideas with bacon? Sign us up.
Tender cappelini tossed with plump shrimp and smoky bacon in a sumptuous, velvet-y cream sauce makes for a rich, indulgent midweek meal.
Slippery noodles dotted through with juicy shrimp basking in a peppery, acerbic sauce.
This is one of those dishes that feels so much more than the sum of its parts.
Recipes with angel hair pasta don’t get a whole lot better.
Sweet, slightly-fizzy cherry tomatoes stirred through a rich, silky sauce and dolloped onto ribbons of pasta…
… perfect for winding your fork around and slurping up in one go.
This fun, easy dish is a mainstay of all our lazy weekends — yeah, that’s right — we liked it before it went viral.
A little kitsch and a lot tasty; this vodka-spiked pasta is perfect for when you’re feeling a little retro.
Cooking Chew tip: A splash of Worcestershire sauce lends this a biting, acidic tang that we love.
Meditate for a moment on this invigoratingly-fresh pasta.
It is incredibly rewarding for what it is, which is essentially an assembly-job — no canny cooking involved.
And is it just us, or is feta truly underappreciated?
Salty, crumbly, gloriously tangy: it transforms this simple dish into something really indulgent.
If you’re not as fond of pistachios as we are, you can substitute them for walnuts but we think they’ve got a great penetrating crunch that complements the slightly musky arugula really well!
The bottom line
Wondering what to make with angel hair pasta? Look no further.
The secret of making a truly divine pasta dish is this: you’ve got to match the shape to the sauce.
The Italians have known this for as long as they’ve been making pasta (which is to say, forever) but the rest of the world has been a little slower to catch on.
Need more? Here are a few Shrimp Pasta Recipes to keep you going.
No matter — there’s no time like the present.
Fragile cappellini is best with light sauces, like tomato or garlic or lemon and olive oil, that won’t weigh down the delicate strands once wound round a fork.
Package up leftovers separately from the sauce, if possible, because angel hair pasta soaks up sauce and gets mushy pretty easily.
Lighter toppings like pancetta and herbs can go a long way towards making it feel that much more substantial without overpowering what’s meant to be a breezy, light dish.
None of these recipes call for very much by way of ingredients or skill: we’ve made it easy to succeed!
So: cappelini? How do you like yours?
15 Angel Hair Pasta Recipe To Inspire Tomorrow’s Lunch
When you want some inspiration for how to prepare your favorite thin pasta, check out this list of 15 Angel Hair Pasta Recipes to get you going.
Ingredients
- Johnny Carino’s Angel Hair Pasta With Artichokes
- Lemon Parsley Angel Hair With Garlic And Mushrooms
- Angel Hair Pasta With Garlic And Parmesan
- Angel Hair Pasta With Olives And Capers
- Lemon And Garlic Angel Hair Pasta
- Seared Salmon And Naked Angel Hair Pasta
- Brown Butter And Garlic Angel Hair Pasta
- Capellini Al Pomodoro
- Angel Hair Pasta With Blush Sauce
- Creamy Angel Hair Pasta With Bacon And Shrimp
- Garlic Shrimp Scampi With Angel Hair Pasta
- 20 Minute Cherry Tomato And Basil Angel Hair Pasta
- Angel Hair Pasta With Spicy Vodka Sauce
- Angel Hair Pasta With Arugula, Feta Cheese, Tomatoes, And Pine Nuts
- Angel Hair Noodles With Arugula And Pistachio
Instructions
- Pick the next meal for an inspired Angel Hair Pasta Recipe
- Grab an apron and get to cookin’ and chewin’!
- Share with us on our Facebook. How did it go?