The best pasta recipe ingredient...

Is Chilli! I love it, it adds a great zing/extra oomph to pasta dishes and you only need to use a little bit. It works with tomato/meat sauces, as well as with pesto. And if your kids aren't into chilli, make it up without the chilli, but make sure you have a bottle of crushed chilli flakes which you can sprinkle onto your bowl of pasta just before you eat (just like you'd grate parmesan cheese on top - except not quite as much!).