One Pot Pasta

A fuss free one pot pasta recipe that is flavorful and comes together in less than 30 minutes with the added bonus of very few dishes to clean up.

Convenient meals. Thats what we are looking for. Or at least I am, especially in this humid and hot as anything climate.

There are certain dishes I like sweating it out for. Sometimes the pleasure of spending time on a recipe brings the most flavor out of the dish. The chocolate ghiya ice cream is one such dish I don’t mind spending a significant amount in the kitchen. Probably because the entire process reminds me of my grandmom, and its my way of feeling some connection to her since I can no longer see her in person. There are other such recipes, but then there are meals you want to spend the least amount of time in the kitchen- either cooking or doing dishes. Today’s one pot pasta recipe lets you do just that.

What’s one pot pasta?

For a long time, I have seen one pot pasta recipes. It was all the rage when Martha Stewart/Nora Singley posted a recipe for it in 2013. You can read more about the discovery of the recipe here. Its only recently that I gave it a try and its been a game changer.

What is one pot pasta? Basically, you cook everything including the pasta in a single pot. No step of boiling the pasta separately, making the sauce separately and then mixing the two. Here everything goes in one pot and gets cooked for the same duration as you would your pasta when boiling separately. And voila, you have your meal ready, with only one pot to clean.

Why make one pot pasta?

Umm… because you only need to clean one pot. Do you need any other reason?

Full disclosure, you would also have the chopping board and the knife to clean, and the mug/measuring glass you use to add the stock/water. But yes, you can remove the second pot you need for boiling the pasta, and the colander for draining cooked pasta from your post cooking washing list. Even two dishes less to wash is a win.

But besides the slightly quicker method, and lesser dishes, do you get good results? With this recipe, you do. Anubhav and I were pleasantly surprised as to how good the pasta tasted. And how easy it was. You get a nice creamy pasta without any addition of cream thanks to the all the starchy water that the pasta releases. And the pasta is so flavorful since its cooked in the tomato-ey liquid.

So why not make all pasta dishes one pot?

Well, you can’t. Some times you need to cook the sauce separately. Sometimes you do not need that much water to cook your pasta and veggies. Sometimes you want the crunch from veggies. Also, I am not sure how this method translates for cream based sauces or with other shapes of pasta.

I have tested this method with spaghetti and should work well with angel hair/linguine  pasta as well (though you might want to reduce the cooking time). From what I have read, thicker pastas like fettuccine might not work that well since they are thicker and harder to cook through. I am yet to try.

While the one pot pasta method is a quicker method that results in a pasta that soaks up all the flavors you are cooking with, it is not the authentic way to cook pasta. Purists will still cook pasta separately, and the sauce separately. For certain recipes, I too will do that. But this particular recipe, I am saving it and using it for a lot of my meals when I want a fuss free, comforting meal. It delivers on flavor. Its convenient. And requires minimal clean up. Authentic or not, it satisfies all my pasta cravings.

Dump everything and cook or not to?

So the original method asks you to just dump everything in the pot and cook. While that method also works, I thought I will also try this recipe by first sautéing the onions and garlic, and then the tomatoes/veggies, and then adding the pasta and water. Did it make a difference to the overall flavor? I think it did. It was still a one pot dish. It just took an extra few minutes. Compared to the dump technique, Anubhav and I both preferred the sautéing first and then adding the pasta in terms of both flavor and sauciness.

Were those extra few minutes worth it? I think they were and that’s why I advice to sauté the onions and garlic first, and then the veggies and then add the pasta and water. I preferred the flavor as well as the consistency of the one pot pasta better this ways. And there were no problem of soggy onions, or veggies with this method. And I still had only one pot to clean.

Season well. Salt, pepper, or any other seasoning you use- make sure you add it initially. This will ensure that your pasta absorbs all the flavor while its cooking.

Different variations

There are many variations online. This one is the simplest and adapted from the Martha Stewarts One Pot pasta cookbook. I did add some kale to it. You could sub it for spinach. Once you get the hang of the method (the ratios and timing), you can adapt the recipe to suit your taste and preferences, making it with your own twists.

As mentioned above the cooking time and liquid will vary according to different pasta types, or vegetables used. Mushrooms will absorb liquid, certain other veggies like tomatoes, or zucchini will release moisture. Sautéing before you add the pasta might help a) in enhancing the flavors and b)taking care of that excess moisture.

For added flavor use vegetable or chicken stock in place of the water. I have homemade stock in my freezer – and generally add 1-2 of those cubes (the cubes are basically concentrated homemade stock that I froze in ice cube trays and use to flavor my soups and stocks- they are pretty concentrated in terms of flavors so 1-2 cubes generally is good enough for me without the stock completely taking over all flavors. Depending on the stock you use, you might need to adjust the quantity.)

A dash of red wine in this recipe also works beautifully.

4.5 from 2 reviews

One Pot Pasta

 

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Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

15 mins

Total time

25 mins

 

Author: Shumaila

Serves: serves 3

Ingredients

• 250 grams spaghetti
• 250 grams cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1 onion, thinly sliced
• 6 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• 1 tsp red pepper flakes
• 2 sprigs fresh basil
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• Salt and pepper, to taste ( you will need 2-3 tsp salt and generous pinch of freshly ground pepper in this recipe, but please adjust according to taste)
• 4 cups (900 ml ) water ( you could use vegetable or chicken stock as well for added flavor, start with 900 ml/4 cups water and increase if required. You could also replace the liquid with ¼ cup red wine- it works really well in the recipe)
• 1 cup kale, leaves removed from the stock, and chopped into bite sized pieces
• ¼ cup freshly grated parmesan

Instructions

1. In a pan (large and deep enough to cook the spaghetti), heat the oil.
2. Add the garlic and sauté for a minute. Add in the onions and cook till translucent.
3. Add the cherry tomatoes and char them slightly on high flame. Add the salt and pepper.
4. Sauté the kale for a few seconds.
5. Add the spaghetti, red pepper flakes, water/stock, basil leaves (reserve few leaves for garnish) and bring to a boil over high heat.
6. Cook the pasta, stirring frequently with tongs, until al dente and the water has nearly evaporated, 8-10 minutes. Remove from flame. Add the grated parmesan cheese and mix everything together.
7. In case the sauce looks too thin, leave the pasta in the pan for 10 minutes for the sauce to thicken. Adjust seasoning.
8. Serve garnished with torn basil leaves, and little more parmesan cheese.

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