A couple of weeks ago I saw this recipe floating around on Facebook about a one pot pasta meal – you put the noodles and EVERYTHING together in one pot and cook it and VIOLA – instant dinner. No having to make a separate sauce or cooking the noodles in another pot and all that jazz. I saved the recipe because I was curious to try it out and see how it went. I was a little skeptical that this would work just because I wasn’t sure how all the flavors would come together.
My results were not too bad, as you can see from above. Easy peasy one pot tomato basil pasta! It is definitely an easy and quick meal, I’ll give it that.
Here’s all of my ingredients tossed into one pot just like the recipe says to do… except I went ahead and browned my onions and garlic before putting in everything else. I just couldn’t stand the idea of uncooked onions. I wanted a little extra flavor! It also said to slice the onions which I ignored, too. I just toss out the parts I don’t agree with. There’s no such thing as the recipe police – remember that! You can do what you want!
Stock is used instead of water to give more flavor to the dish. The original recipe called for veggie stock but we never have that on hand so I used chicken stock. The starches released from the pasta help bring the sauce together. I think the original recipe also calls for too much liquid since this was much too runny for my liking. I did not want to continue cooking it for too much longer since I didn’t want to overcook the noodles.
This is the teaser and intro paragraphs that were on Facebook:
“Blow your MIND Tomato Basil Pasta! – No Straining, just Stirring
Pasta, Tomatoes, Veggie Broth, Olive Oil, and Seasonings
Throw it all in the pot, INCLUDING the uncooked Pasta, and cook! – Bring it to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. The starch leaches out of the pasta and makes a rich, warm sauce for the noodles. The other ingredients cook right along with the pasta.”
I think their title was too boring. “Easy One Pot Tomato Basil Pasta” is kind of boring, too, but oh well. That’s what I decided to go with.
The recipe itself turned out pretty well. You can definitely add more veggies to this to boost it up (I’ll add mushrooms in the future) and serve it with some chicken breast if you need a little protein with it.
Like I said, this turned out too runny for me with the fettuccine so I would reduce the broth by half a cup – or, increase the amount of pasta and add the full 4 and half cups the original recipe called for. In my notes below, i have reduced the amount of stock.
The sauce on this dish is sort of like a herby gravy with tomatoes. It’s not a tomato based sauce but it has a bit of the Italian flavoring from the herbs used in it. I think this would be nice along with chicken (maybe even Chicken Parmesan) and some crusty bread. One thing is for sure: it’s an easy, quick and flavorful recipe! Hope you try it!
- 12 ounces pasta (I used fettuccine)
- 1 can (15 ounces) diced tomatoes
- 1 large sweet onion, diced
- 6 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 2 teaspoons Italian seasonings
- 2 large sprigs basil, chopped
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- Parmesan cheese for garnish
- Heat up a pan over medium heat. Add a drizzle of olive oil and cook onions, until translucent. Add garlic and cook for one minute until fragrant.
- Add in chicken broth. Add whole can (including liquid) of dice tomatoes, basil, Italian seasonings, and pepper flakes. Add pasta and a drizzle of olive oil on top.
- Cover the pot and bring it up to a boil. Once it's boiling, reduce heat and set to a low simmer. Keep that baby covered and cook for about 11 minutes, stirring every 2-3 minutes. Cook until almost all of the liquid has evaporated and pasta is cooked through.
- Season to taste with salt and pepper. Stir it all up to distribute the sauce evenly throughout the pasta. Serve it up garnished with Parmesan cheese and a sprinkle of fresh basil.
ooh this looks interesting. I love the idea of one pot.
Hi Kirbie – Yeah, that’s what caught my eye about this one! Sometimes it’s annoying making a separate sauce. It reminds me of those macaroni and cheese recipes where you cook the macaroni in the milk.
Is it bad that I’m surprised it actually worked? 😛 I was a little skeptical of the pasta-water-mixed-with-all-the-other-ingredients concept. But it looks quite tasty! I’ll have to try it out for myself 😀
Hi Jinxi – I didn’t think it would work either, actually – haha! I think the trick is that you use stock to replace the water – otherwise I doubt this would taste good at all. Oh, I also forgot to mention I seasoned by stock with a bit of extra salt – the original recipe said to use regular stock (not low sodium) but I didn’t have that so I just added extra salt. It’s super easy to make so it can be one of those “I’m not really feeling it” dinners haha.
I tried to make lasagna once with the no-boil-lasagna pasta sheets and the entire lasagna turned out AWFUL. The pasta was super hard and almost inedible.
So I’m glad this one pot pasta worked. You reference to the recipe police was spot on! No recipe police in our households!
You rebels 🙂
I’d add Italian sausage to this dish. Can’t eat pasta without meat!
Hi Faye – yeah I don’t really like those no boil sheets either! I was surprised this worked! It’s a nice recipe since you could add whatever you’d like to it to make it your own. No recipe police will stop you haha!
This recipe looks really good – fresh simple ingredients. I will definitely print this out and make it soon! I love fresh basil!
Hi CC – This was a pretty simple one to do! It would be good for any “lazy” meals 🙂