Easy Pasta Dishes to Impress Your Guests

Having guests over for dinner? Want to make a great impression without too much fuss. These three pasta dishes never fail me. The first one is so easy but it tastes so divine that all of my friends and family think it took lots of work.

Crab Alfredo

¾ cup butter

1 ¼ cup Parmesan Cheese

1 cup Whipping Cream

1 pound Crab Legs, cleaned

Cooked Pasta

Fresh Parsley

Melt butter and stir in cream. Cook over low heat for about five minutes, until slightly thickened; stirring frequently. Stir in cheese and continue cooking over low heat, just until cheese is melted. Stir in crabmeat. Immediately toss with prepared pasta and top with fresh parsley.

If you are not a fan of crab or you don't want to put in the work to clean the legs you can substitute almost anything for the crabmeat. I have used chicken, shrimp, steak strips, scallops and Italian sausage on different occasions. Yummy! Serves four.

Angel Hair with Uncooked Tomato Sauce

1 pound Angel Hair pasta

½ cup grated Parmesan cheese

2 pounds extra ripe tomatoes

Small Onion, minced

Minced Garlic

Chopped Fresh Basil

½ cup Olive Oil

Slide the tomatoes into a large pan of boiling water. Cook for one minute before removing. Allow to cool. Once cool, peel and chop.

Mix onion, garlic, basil, oil and some salt and pepper, along with the tomatoes in a bowl. Let stand at room temperature for one hour.

Cook and drain the pasta. Toss with other ingredients and serve immediately with Parmesan Cheese. Serves four.

Linguine with White Clam Sauce

1 pound cooked linguine

¼ cup olive oil

½ cup chopped onion

Fresh chopped parsley

Minced Garlic

2 tablespoons flour

3 8 ounce cans of minced clams, drained; reserve 1 ½ cups liquid

Heat oil in large skillet. Add onion, parsley and garlic; cook three or four minutes, stirring occasionally.

Mix in flour, salt and pepper; cook until bubbly. Add clam juice slowly, while stirring. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly, for one to two minutes. Lower heat and stir in clams. Serve over hot linguine. Serves 6.