A five-ingredient baked pasta with so much flavor

Salty halloumi, smoky harissa and fresh dill give this easy weeknight pasta a lot of depth.

View in browser|nytimes.com Continue reading the main story March 14, 2024 Linda Xiao for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Monica Pierini. Hello, halloumi By Mia Leimkuhler I found halloumi later in life, and we connected instantly. It's salty, tangy and squeaky, an underrated quality in cheese. So I'm making up for lost halloumi time with pesto pasta with halloumi, seared halloumi salads and this new five-ingredient baked tomato pasta with harissa and halloumi from the vegetarian cooking queen Hetty Lui McKinnon. The five ingredients, as you might guess, are short pasta, harissa paste, halloumi, dill and your preferred jarred marinara. If you can't find halloumi, feta is a great substitute, and you can swap in sriracha, sambal oelek or chile flakes if you're fresh out of harissa. In other words: This is a pantry- and fridge-friendly pasta. Featured Recipe Baked Tomato Pasta With Harissa and Halloumi View Recipe → Something about baby bok choy makes me think spring — maybe it's because they're shaped like tulips. Combined with the perky flavors of mustard, ginger and lemon, this sheet-pan scallion chicken with bok choy from Kay Chun is very springy, very easy and, judging by the five stars and nearly 4,000 reviews, very popular with our readers. Yewande Komolafe's shrimp tacos are surprisingly easy to pull together on a weeknight, especially if you have shrimp in your freezer and a good chunk of cabbage in your fridge. Add your favorite corn tortillas and hefty spoonfuls of sour cream — or don't. I would eat these spiced, seared shrimp on a pile of shredded cabbage with pico de gallo and happily call that dinner. Bunches of asparagus have appeared at my grocery store, and while I can no longer resist them, they're also not quite asparagus-y enough to shine in preparations like steaming or slivered raw into salads. Into a 400-degree oven they go, slicked with oil and generously seasoned with salt and pepper, to become sweet and tender and just the slightest bit crunchy. But I'm not quite done with winter vegetables just yet. A mix of broccoli, cauliflower and brussels sprouts is what you'll need for Ali Slagle's roasted broccoli grain bowl with nooch dressing, the sort of recipe that begs to be doubled or tripled and packed into impressive desk lunches. The "nooch," by the way, is nutritional yeast, which is mixed with lemon, mustard and garlic powder for a balanced, umami-rich dressing. More excellent (and vegan) applications for nutritional yeast: "cheesy" popcorn, fettuccine Alfredo, twice-baked potatoes and this staff-favorite Caesar salad. Last: Sunday is St. Patrick's Day, which means I must make Nigella Lawson's chocolate Guinness cake. It's a deep, dark cocoa cake topped with a smooth cream cheese frosting — and, as you'll note in the recipe, it calls for a cup (eight ounces) of Guinness, which is usually sold in 15-ounce cans. What to do with the rest, I wonder. Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT Johnny Miller for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Susan Spungen. Sheet-Pan Scallion Chicken With Bok Choy By Kay Chun 45 minutes Makes 4 servings Kelly Marshall for The New York Times Shrimp Tacos By Yewande Komolafe 35 minutes Makes 4 Servings Christopher Testani for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Roasted Asparagus By Martha Rose Shulman 20 minutes Makes 4 to 6 David Malosh for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Roasted Broccoli Grain Bowl With Nooch Dressing By Ali Slagle 25 minutes Makes 4 servings Sang An for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Chocolate Guinness Cake By Nigella Lawson 1 hour 15 minutes Makes One 9-inch cake or 12 servings Sign up for the Five Weeknight Dishes newsletter Fresh dinner ideas for busy people who want something great to eat, with NYT Cooking recipes sent to you weekly. Get it in your inbox Sign up for The Veggie newsletter Tanya Sichynsky shares the most delicious vegetarian recipes for weeknight cooking, packed lunches and dinner parties. Get it in your inbox Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT Continue reading the main story Need help? Review our newsletter help page or contact us for assistance. You received this email because you signed up for Cooking from The New York Times. To stop receiving Cooking, unsubscribe. To opt out of other promotional emails from The Times, including those regarding The Athletic, manage your email settings. To opt out of updates and offers sent from The Athletic, submit a request. Subscribe to NYT CookingGet the NYT Cooking app Connect with us on: Change Your EmailPrivacy PolicyContact UsCalifornia Notices The New York Times Company. 620 Eighth Avenue New York, NY 10018