In just 20 minutes, and with only one pot to clean, you can have a family-dinner-size pasta dish to feed your friends and enough leftovers for a few more meals. The dried pasta is cooked right in the sauce, a time-saving and delicious trick Italian grandmothers use to infuse the pasta with lots of flavor. Choose a favorite rustic pasta shape that cooks in about eight to 12 minutes (shells, penne, fusilli).