This linguine with crab, peas and lemon, and more besides, is the perfect dish for hot weather. With its notes of fresh herbs and healthy ingredients, it's fully satisfying yet easily digested. And, it is also both quick and easy to make when temperatures mean the last thing you want is to spend time slaving over a hot stove.

8 best side dishes for warm weather.A collection of delicious and less obvious side dishes originally created for specific recipes. But, they all share being able to work with a far wider range of dishes. Some are classics, others a little more leftfield and many are a good way to stop leftovers from going to waste. Issue no.1 of what I hope to be an occasional series and focuses on side dishes that work well in warmer weather. So, ideal for those who live in hot places or a

My father chanced upon this spicy Sicilian spaghetti with scallops in Palermo in the 1960s and it's been a family favourite ever since. It's brimming with flavours—scallops, anchovies, peperoncino, capers, shallots, and more—but takes less than 30 minutes to make. Above all, good quality olive oil is the star. It's a healthy, easy option perfect for hot weather.

This recipe for pasta with kale and pancetta sauce comes from Castelfranco Emelia in Italy's Modena Province. It's a combination of the deeper flavours of onions cooked in white wine, pancetta and cream and the green flavours of kale and basil. Given its particular cooking method, it can be turned into a lactovegetarian dish with no effort at all.

Italian mascarpone cake is a personal favourite. It's flexible and the perfect option for those who don't like overly sweet things. Easy-to-make, it can be made with many different combinations of berries, citrus zest and spices. I'm doing it here with my favourite combination—blueberries, orange zest and nutmeg—but you can adapt it to your own personal preferences.

This recipe for pasta with pumpkin, spinach and thyme sauce takes barely 30 minutes to prepare and is surprisingly delicious for something that is so easy to cook with relatively few ingredients. Ideal for when you need to pull something impressive together with little time on your hands.

This recipe for Sicilian casarecce with caper and anchovy tomato sauce is simplicity itself with few ingredients, healthy and delicious. All it takes is a little time to cook down to perfection. It's from one of my father's journals of recipes he collected on his travels in the 1960s and 1970s.

A recipe for pasta with creamy sweet pepper and pancetta sauce with notes of fresh basil from Genoa. It is simple and fairly quick to make, but delivers way beyond expectations if you pay attention to a few small details.

This pasta with creamy asparagus and smoked salmon is one of my favourite summer dishes for when you're hungry but want something a little refreshing. It's certainly filling, but it is also light with the flavours of warm weather; citrus and green things. Better still, it takes very little effort to cook.

Bucatini with butternut squash, bacon and sage is a dish that is easy to whip up with very little effort.

Pasta with prawn and anchovy cream sauce

This Ligurian pasta with mushrooms, capers and walnuts and other ingredients; ready in under 30 minutes; vegan, vegetarian or other

A season-agnostic treat; bacon and butternut squash risotto is brimming with sweet and green flavours

This recipe for pasta in a Roman-style cream sauce with peas, broad beans and spinach is incredibly quick and easy; perfect for summer

Tagliatelle with sausage ragù is an authentic Bolognese favourite; also a hack for those who find it hard to get their hands on salsiccia

Tuscan pasta with fennel —and sausage for those who eat meat—is another dish that can be readily be vegetarian or not.

An easy, quick dish, this healthy Calabrian pasta with seafood has little kick of chilli and healthy pescatarian proteins

A new recipe for a vegan spring risotto that combines some old French cooking ideas with green, fresh spring flavours

Bucatini with king prawns and a magical sauce of three forms of tomato—hence "Il tricorno" ("the three-cornered hat") —and dried basil.

Low-fat linguine with roasted tomatoes, peppers and asparagus; A low-fat lacto-vegetarian pasta dish that's easy to make