One Pot Pasta

Literally throw it all in a pot

Happy Sunday! Hope everyone had a great weekend. If you’re struggling for simple recipe ideas for the upcoming week, I’ve gotcha covered. This is seriously one of the simplest and tastiest week night meals ever! I first saw this and was like “ummmm what? there’s no way you can cook it all together and it doesn’t get gooey and mushy and naaaasty” There were too many good reviews for me to not try it and also the hope that it really would be delicious was too much for me to take- I gave it a try.

I’ve made this multiple times since the first time and I’ve made a few adaptations. First of all, I really did find it a little “gummy” the first time- I’ve found that a good way to help reduce this is to not add all the water right at the beginning and then add more towards the end of the cooking if it needs it. Also one time I made this I had some extra spinach lying around which was close to being not so great anymore, I threw it in right at the end and let it wilt and it really look this to the next level. As you can see in the picture above, you seriously just throw it all together and let it cook. Magical! 🙂

Ingredients:

12 ounces whole wheat linguine (or spaghetti, really just a long pasta)
12 ounces cherry or grape tomatoes, halved or quartered if large
1 onion, thinly sliced
4 cloves garlic, sliced thinly or minced
1/2 -1 teaspoon dried red-pepper flakes
2 sprigs fresh basil, plus torn leaves for garnish
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
4 cups water (or chicken or veggie stock for added flavor)
3 oz Fresh Spinach (about half a standard bag)
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese, for serving

Directions

Combine pasta, tomatoes, onion, garlic, red-pepper flakes, basil, oil, 2 teaspoons salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and about 3 and a half cups of water in a large pot. Bring to a boil over high heat. Boil mixture, stirring and turning pasta frequently with tongs, until pasta is al dente and water has nearly evaporated/soaked into pasta, which takes about about 10-12 minutes. This is where you can add more water if need be.
Remove from heat. Stir in the spinach and let it wilt (like 2 minutes). Then season to taste with extra salt and pepper, plate it up and garnish with basil and Parmesan cheese.