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Pasta & Grains

Pasta, rice, grains. Weeknight fast or Sunday slow — each recipe tested to get the ratio of water, salt, and time exactly right.

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Kimchi Fried Rice with kimchi, short grain rice and gochujang — Korea recipe

🇰🇷KoreaMedium

Cereal and Pasta Dishes

Kimchi Fried Rice

The definitive Korean way to use up sour kimchi and day-old rice: the kimchi is fried until it caramelises, seasoned with gochujang, tossed with cold rice, and topped with a runny fried egg. It's a five-minute weeknight plate built entirely from fridge and pantry staples, and it lives or dies on how fermented the kimchi is.

20 min480 kcal2 serves

⚡Quick🌶️Spicy🌿Vegetarian

Kinoko Takikomi Gohan (Japanese Mushroom Rice) with short grain rice, mushrooms and shiitake mushrooms — Japan recipe

🇯🇵JapanMedium

Cereal and Pasta Dishes

Kinoko Takikomi Gohan (Japanese Mushroom Rice)

Kinoko takikomi gohan (きのこの炊き込みご飯), also written kinoko gohan and simply called Japanese mushroom rice, is short-grain rice cooked together with mushrooms and fried tofu in dashi, soy sauce, mirin and sake, so the seasoned broth goes into the grains instead of being poured on top. Takikomi gohan is the general name for rice cooked with other ingredients, and this is the mushroom version, usually made with shimeji, maitake and shiitake. The mushrooms sit on top of the rice and are not stirred in until the pot is done, which keeps the grains evenly tender. Active time covers prep and cooking; add 30 minutes for soaking the rice and 10 minutes of steaming off the heat. It feeds four as a main with miso soup and pickles, and what is left makes good onigiri the next day.

45 min340 kcal4 serves

Kuri Gohan (Japanese Chestnut Rice) with chestnuts, glutinous rice and short grain rice — Japan recipe

🇯🇵JapanMedium

Cereal and Pasta Dishes

Kuri Gohan (Japanese Chestnut Rice)

Kuri gohan (栗ご飯) is a Japanese rice dish cooked with fresh chestnuts, made in home kitchens from September through October when kuri come into season. The name is just chestnut plus gohan, cooked rice; a version with more glutinous rice is sometimes called kuri okowa, and some families call the whole dish kurimeshi. Sake and salt do the seasoning instead of soy sauce, and a small share of mochigome mixed into the short-grain rice keeps the grains glossy and slightly chewy once they cool, so the chestnut's sweetness stays in front. The chestnuts steam directly on top of the rice and come out soft enough to break with chopsticks, closer in texture to a baked sweet potato than a raw nut. Active time here covers peeling and finishing the rice; the chestnuts need at least 20 minutes soaking before you can peel them and the rice needs another 30 minutes to soak before cooking, so budget closer to 90 minutes start to finish. Serves four alongside grilled fish, pickles and a bowl of miso soup.

50 min380 kcal4 serves

🌱Vegan🌾Gluten-free

Lagman with lamb, wheat flour and onions — Uzbekistan recipe

🇺🇿UzbekistanAdvanced

Cereal and Pasta Dishes

Lagman

Lagman is a Central Asian noodle dish: thick, chewy wheat noodles under a braise of lamb and vegetables seasoned with cumin and coriander. It reached Uzbekistan from the Uyghurs of western China, where the noodles are pulled by hand from a single rope of dough; this home version rolls and cuts the dough, then stretches each strip by hand to get the same chew. The sauce, called vaja, is thick — closer to a gravy than a broth — and it is spooned over the noodles rather than served as soup.

95 min1080 kcal4 serves

Lasagna with lasagna pasta, ground beef and ricotta — Italy recipe

🇮🇹ItalyAdvanced

Cereal and Pasta Dishes

Lasagna

Lasagna is baked layers of wide pasta sheets, meat sauce, béchamel and cheese. This version also adds a layer of ricotta mixed with egg and Parmesan, the way Italian-American kitchens often do it, so it comes out denser and richer than a plain ragù-and-béchamel lasagne. Bake it 35–40 minutes and let it rest before cutting, so the layers set into clean squares.

85 min900 kcal6 serves

💪High protein

Lentil Bolognese with red lentils, crushed tomatoes and tomato paste — Italy recipe

🇮🇹ItalyMedium

Cereal and Pasta Dishes

Lentil Bolognese

Red lentils simmered with soffritto, tomato paste, crushed tomatoes, and red wine into a thick, deeply savory pasta sauce. No meat, no substitutes — just lentils doing what they do best when you give them enough time and heat. The sauce works because red lentils dissolve into the tomato base, thickening it while adding body and protein. Walnuts, added near the end, give the sauce a slight richness and something to chew on. The whole thing takes about 40 minutes and tastes better the next day.

45 min480 kcal4 serves

🌿Vegetarian🌱Vegan

Lo Mein with noodles, oyster sauce and soy sauce — China recipe

🇨🇳ChinaMedium

Cereal and Pasta Dishes

Lo Mein

Soft egg noodles stir-fried with vegetables and protein in a glossy, savory sauce built on oyster sauce, light and dark soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, and sesame oil. Lo mein (捞面) translates from Cantonese as 'stirred noodles' — the name describes the cooking method, a scooping, tossing motion that coats every strand. Unlike chow mein, where the noodles are fried until crispy, lo mein noodles stay soft and slippery, coated in a thick, glossy sauce. The dark soy sauce is the detail that gives the dish its characteristic deep mahogany color; without it the dish looks pale. The sauce is premixed before the wok goes on — lo mein moves fast.

25 min520 kcal2 serves

⚡Quick

Mac and Cheese with macaroni, cheddar and butter — USA recipe

🇺🇸USAAdvanced

Cereal and Pasta Dishes

Mac and Cheese

The ultimate American comfort food — elbow macaroni baked in a rich, velvety three-cheese sauce with a golden breadcrumb crust. Creamy on the inside, crispy on top.

40 min540 kcal6 serves

🌿Vegetarian🌶️Spicy

Makarony po-flotski (Russian Navy-Style Pasta) with penne, ground beef and onion — Russia recipe

🇷🇺RussiaEasy

Cereal and Pasta Dishes

Makarony po-flotski (Russian Navy-Style Pasta)

Makarony po-flotski is a simple Soviet dish: boiled pasta tossed with browned ground meat and golden onions. The key is to truly fry the meat to a crust rather than stew it, or the flavor falls flat. Quick, filling, and sauce-free — a navy classic born aboard warships.

30 min480 kcal4 serves

⚡Quick💪High protein

Mannaya Kasha (Russian Semolina Porridge) with semolina, milk and butter — Russia recipe

🇷🇺RussiaEasy

Cereal and Pasta Dishes

Mannaya Kasha (Russian Semolina Porridge)

Mannaya kasha is a warm Russian semolina porridge cooked in milk — a childhood breakfast across the former Soviet Union. The trick is to pour the semolina into the hot milk in a thin stream while whisking, which keeps it smooth and lump-free. It's finished with a pat of butter and served with jam, honey, or fresh berries.

15 min210 kcal4 serves

⚡Quick🌿Vegetarian

Mushroom Risotto with cremini or mixed mushrooms, Arborio or Carnaroli rice and parmesan — Italy recipe

🇮🇹ItalyMedium

Cereal and Pasta Dishes

Mushroom Risotto

Arborio rice toasted dry in butter, then built up ladle by ladle with hot stock and mushrooms, finished off heat with cold butter and parmesan. No cream. The creaminess comes entirely from the starch in the rice — that is the whole point of the technique. It takes about 18 minutes of actual cooking once the rice goes in, and you cannot really walk away from it.

40 min480 kcal4 serves

🌿Vegetarian

Nigerian Jollof Rice with rice, tomatoes and bell peppers — Nigeria recipe

🇳🇬NigeriaAdvanced

Cereal and Pasta Dishes

Nigerian Jollof Rice

Jollof rice is West Africa's most debated dish. Nigerian, Ghanaian, Senegalese — every country insists its version is definitive. The Nigerian version is built on a tomato-pepper base cooked down until brick-red and deeply savory, then the rice steams under foil and a tight lid until each grain is separate and fully flavoured. The smoky bottom — the slightly scorched layer called party jollof — is not a mistake. It's the point. Serve with fried plantains and coleslaw.

75 min420 kcal6 serves

🌾Gluten-free🌶️Spicy

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