Pasta starter for dinner is composed (6)
I believe the answer is:
penned
'is composed' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
'pasta starter for dinner' is the wordplay.
'pasta' becomes 'penne' (penne is a type of pasta).
'starter for' says to take the initial letters.
The first letter of 'dinner' is 'd'.
'penne'+'d'='PENNED'
(Other definitions for penned that I've seen before include "Caged, wrote" , "Confined; written" , "in Reading Gaol, perhaps" , "under house arrest?" , "Kept in an enclosure; written" .)