Everyone loves pasta, and it can be such a satisfying and simple way to create a meal for the family ? especially in these busy times.

The sauce recipes below are all quick skillet creations. The choice of pasta is up to you. Although I suggest a pasta that goes with each recipe, be flexible and use what you have, and bring the sauce and pasta together as if they were meant for each other from the start.

These recipes are all great dishes to share on your family table.

l For 1 pound of pasta, bring 6 quarts of water to a full boil (too little water produces a gummy pasta; too much water washes away too much starch).

Stir 1 tablespoon kosher or coarse sea salt into the water anytime before adding pasta.

After adding the pasta, cover the pot and return water to the boil over high heat. Start timing the pasta when the boil resumes.

For dry pastas that will finish in the skillet, cook in the pot for 2 minutes less than the minimum time given on the package.

Test pasta by extracting a piece and tasting it 1 to 2 minutes before the designated time for doneness. When it is not quite done ? ?al dente? ? lift out with tongs or other tool, let excess water drain into the pot, and drop the pasta with clinging water into the skillet.

Don?t discard pasta water until the dish is finished!

@EDITRULE:

For 1 pound of pasta:

cup extra-virgin olive oil

cup sliced garlic

cup Tuscan-style peperoncini in vinegar, drained, seeded and thinly sliced (about 12 whole pickled peppers)

1 pound (about 2 dozen) small shrimp, washed, peeled and de-veined

1 teaspoon salt

cup scallions, cut into thin rounds

4 tablespoons soft butter

Hot water from the pasta cooking pot

cup chopped fresh Italian parsley

Pour the olive oil into a big skillet, scatter the garlic slices in and set over medium-high heat. Cook for 1 minute, until the garlic is sizzling.

Scatter the slices of peperoncino in a hot spot; cook for 1 minute; shake the pan now and then. Push the garlic and peppers to the side and turn the heat to high. Drop the shrimp in the centre of the skillet and spread them so they?re not crowded. Sprinkle on the salt and let them sizzle for minute.

Flip the shrimp over, giving the skillet a good toss or stirring and turning them; cook another minute or so, until the flesh is just turning opaque. Scatter the scallions into the skillet; toss and stir in with the shrimp, for 20 to 30 seconds, just until they?re sizzling. Stir in 2 tablespoons of the butter and cook until it is melted and starts to simmer, 10 to 20 seconds. Ladle in 2 cups of boiling pasta water.

Stir up everything in the skillet and let the sauce boil for only a moment. If the pasta is ready to add, turn down the heat to very low. If the pasta is not ready, remove the skillet from the heat immediately; set it back over low heat when you do add the pasta.

When the pasta is done al dente, scoop it up and drop into the shrimp pan. Toss briefly, sprinkle on the parsley, and toss again. Remove from the heat and drop the remaining 2 tablespoons butter on top of the pasta and toss in. Serve right away. Serves 4.

@EDITRULE:

?Salsa arrabbiata? - literally, ?angry? sauce - is a tomato-based pasta sauce made in countless versions in Italy, sometimes with meat, sometimes without, but always with some kind of hot pepper.

For 1 pound pasta:

1 (28-ounce) can San Marzano or other Italian plum tomatoes, with juices 2 to 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 medium onions sliced into -inch-thick ?half-moons?

1 cup (about 6 ounces) strips of prosciutto end or thick bacon, cut in -inch pieces

3 bay leaves

8 to 10 whole Tuscan-style peperoncini in vinegar, drained, seeded and sliced in strips (about cup), or more, to taste

Hot water from the pasta cooking pot

teaspoon salt or more to taste

l 1 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or Grana Padano

Dump the tomatoes and juices into a large bowl and squeeze the tomatoes into small chunks with your hands. Pour the olive oil into a skillet; toss in the onion slices and the prosciutto or bacon strips, and set over medium-high heat.

Stir well, toss in the bay leaves and cook, stirring and shaking the pan occasionally. (If using bacon, start over medium heat and turn it up as the bacon releases its fat.)

After 5 minutes or so, when the onions have softened, drop the strips of peperoncino into a clear part of the skillet and toast them in the hot spot for a minute.

Pour the crushed tomatoes into the pan; rinse out the tomato can and bowl with 1 cup of pasta cooking water, and pour it into the skillet too. Add the salt, stir well, and rapidly bring the sauce to a boil, then lower the heat so it is bubbling steadily.

Cook at a gentle boil for 8 to 10 minutes until the sauce has thickened and reduced by a third r so. The onions and peppers should be cooked through but still retain their shape and texture to the bite.

Remove bay leaves, then toss in the pasta and cook with salsa arrabbiata in the skillet. Remove the skillet from the heat and toss in the cheese just before serving.

Serves 4.