Something For Saturday: One-Pot Pasta

Just a little something for Saturday.

There has been a lot of buzz lately about the trend, one-pot pasta.  Photos have recently shown up on my Pinterest news-feed and recipes have quickly surfaced when looking for simple dinner ideas online.  I finally decided to give one a try the other night and it was a game-changer.

I am actually not a huge fan of pasta, which is odd since I come from a large Italian family, making that seem sort of sacrilegious.  But I think it’s due to the fact that I was spoiled having grown up in a family of great cooks.  It has made simply boiling pasta out of a box feel so lackluster and bland.  So, I usually reserve those meals for Sunday dinners at my parents, which are never boring or at a select few restaurants that I know make their pasta by hand.

I came across this recipe on the blog, Apron Strings, where the author noted she was inspired to create this dish by a photo she had seen in the magazine, Martha Stewart Living.  And it turns out, it was as easy as it looked to prepare and the results were so flavorful.  The best part is, that you can tweak this to include the herbs and spices and vegetables, that you enjoy the most and really make it your own.

{Ingredients and instructions adapted slightly from the original version I came across on Apron Strings}

Ingredients:

• 12 ounces linguine pasta
• 1 can (15 ounces) diced tomatoes with liquid
• 1 medium sweet onion, cut in strips
• 4 cloves garlic, very thinly sliced
• 1 package sliced shiitake mushrooms
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano leaves
• 4 cups regular vegetable broth (not low sodium)
• 1/2 cup regular chicken broth (not low sodium)
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 bunch (about 10 to 12 leaves) basil, diced
• Parmesan cheese for garnish

Instructions:

1.     Place pasta, tomatoes, onion, garlic, basil leaves and mushrooms in a large stock pot.  Pour in vegetable broth.  Sprinkle the pepper flakes and oregano on top and drizzle with olive oil.  Season to taste with a small amount of salt and/or black ground pepper.

2.     Cover pot and bring to a boil.  Reduce to a low simmer and keep covered and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring every 2 minutes or so.  Cook until almost much of the liquid has evaporated.  I left a decent amount of liquid still on the bottom as it made a warm broth to keep my pasta moist and was great for dipping a loaf of crusty Italian bread.

3.     If needed, season to taste with more salt and pepper.  Stir pasta several times to distribute the liquid in the bottom of the pot evenly throughout the pasta as you are serving.  Serve garnished with Parmesan cheese.

Have a great weekend.  Enjoy!