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Thursday, June 26, 2014

One-pot tomato basil pasta

Solve the weeknight dinner dilemma with one-pot tomato basil pasta -- a super-fast, healthy meal that can be made in only 10 minutes.

one-pot tomato basil pasta - a fast, healthy meal in 10 minutes


So, you know by now that my goal is to help you to cut the crap from your diet by showing you how to make easy, delicious, healthy meals and snacks at home. I don't need to beat a dead horse.

(OMG, where the hell does that awful expression come from? I don't even want to google it to find out.)

So, instead of horse beating, I'll just tell you about this one-pot tomato basil pasta recipe.

Yep, you read that correctly: one pot. Because I go completely cray cray over “one-pot” recipes that actually require you to cook the pasta separately. That's two pots, people; I may not love math but I can count to freakin' TWO. Therefore, I swear to you this recipe only involves one pot. Do you own a big pot? Good. Got a stove and 15 minutes? Excellent. That's pretty much all you need to get a wholesome, real-food dinner on the table tonight.

I've heard these one-pot pasta recipes referred to as “wonderpots” – and I can understand why. In fact, I think they're triply wonderful:

1) First wonder: The pasta is self-saucing. That is, as the pasta cooks in the pot with the fresh ingredients, it releases starches that thicken the cooking liquid to form a rich sauce. How freakin' cool is that?

2) Second wonder: It's absurdly quick and easy to make. Just throw a bunch of ingredients into a pot (ONE POT, NOT TWO), stir the bejesus out of it for ten minutes and then – wonder of wonders! – dinner is served. Now that's my kind of meal. And yours, too, I bet.

3) Third wonder: The recipe is completely customizable. Do you eat gluten-free? Substitute quinoa spaghetti. Want to change up the flavor? Use different herbs and spices and toss in some mushrooms. Prefer more protein? Add some cooked sausage near the end of the cooking time.

Added bonus or fourth wonder? The continual ten minutes of stirring is an amazing arm workout. Seriously. If I made this one-pot pasta every day, I'd have arms like Michelle Obama in no time. Now, I'd probably be so sick of pasta that I would want to jab myself in the eye with a sharp stick, but hey, my arms would be epic.

Enjoy the pasta – and the workout.

UPDATE JUNE 2015: Love this one pot wonder? Try my new healthy one pot Asian pasta, too!

one-pot tomato basil pasta - a fast, healthy meal in 10 minutes

If you like this recipe, be sure to check out all my healthy, easy weeknight dinner recipes!

One-Pot Tomato Basil Pasta

(adapted from Martha Stewart Living)

Ingredients:
1 13.25-ounce box whole wheat linguine
1 onion, halved and thinly sliced
4-6 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups chopped fresh tomatoes (1 pint of grape tomatoes)
handful of basil, chopped
handful of parsley, chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
pinch of red pepper flakes
5 cups water
parmesan cheese for serving

Directions:
Combine all the ingredients in a large pot and bring to a boil over high heat, stirring occasionally to submerge the pasta as it softens. Once the mixture comes to a boil, reduce heat to medium and cook, stirring and tossing continually (tongs are great for this) for about 8 minutes or until the sauce has thickened and the pasta is cooked. Serve immediately, topped with parmesan cheese.

www.yankeekitchenninja.com
-- print recipe --

32 comments:

  1. OMG (hah!) look at that pasta!! Gorgeous. (You should share that image as a whole new post next week ;-) -- the only issue I have with pasta is that I literally cannot stop eating it; it's like crack for me :(. Ah so it's the stirring... Loving the four wonders. Thanks for the morning smile.

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    1. I'm that way, too -- a total pasta junkie. But I feel like the workout involved in making this one makes it worthwhile. :-)

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  2. Holy cow, that's like a dream come true! Do you think I could make a half a recipe and still have it come out OK? I'm the only one in my house who would eat this and I, too, would eat way too much of this.

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    1. Yes! I have made a half-size version of it and it was fine. Enjoy!!!

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  3. I've heard of this 1 pot wonder pasta but never tried it yet! Glad to know that it really is as easy as it looks and I can count stirring as my daily workout ;) Yum! Looks really great Ninj!

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    1. I was wicked skeptical, Chris, but it's pretty darned cool. Enjoy!

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  4. Did i do something wrong? Mine didn't come out creamy like the picture shows...

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    1. It's not "creamy", Melissa -- it's just thick and saucy. What was the consistency of yours?

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    2. Sorry, not sure what happened, as I've made this a bajillion times with no issues. Maybe the heat wasn't high enough?

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  5. I tried this last night and it turned out great! I used basil flavored linguine and added basil pesto sausage from Trader Joe's. The consistency was thick and "saucy" as you said it would be. And it was super easy! Thank you!

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    1. I'm so glad you liked it and that it was easy for you -- a total keeper in my book!

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  6. Hi Kitchen Ninja!

    I plan on making this tonight and am so excited. I spoke with my butcher and he pointed out some very very fancy (and expensive!) Italian sausage that I plan on adding in. He said it's the best he's ever tasted. I read about 20 different blogs with this recipe and yours is the only one that states when you should toss in the cooked Italian sausage. I bought spaghetti noodles rather than linguine because my guys (hubby & FIL) dislike linguine pasta for some strange reason, so hopefully it turns out as it should. While at the store I could have sworn I read that this recipe includes bell peppers, so I bought a variety bag of mini-sweet bell peppers. Since I paid for them, I'm going to go ahead and add a few thin julienne slices of each color to the pot as well. Thanks for this recipe, will definitely post to tell you how it turns out!

    -Holly

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  7. Loved it! Will definitely add to my recipe book

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  8. Turned out amazing. I love the sauce that was left at the bottom, perfect consistency! I do have one tip to anyone adding in Italian sausage - do not add any salt! I didn't think about the salt content of Italian sausage and it was a tad too salty. I made another 1-serving batch today for myself without the sausage and it was to die for! This will definitely be a regular meal around my house!

    -Holly

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  9. Hi! This looks so good. Do you have any idea how large the portion size is and how may portions you got?

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    1. Hi Kim -- The recipe calls for a full box of pasta, so you can base your serving size on that. We tend to eat larger portions, so it was about 6 for us. Enjoy!

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  10. Love this recipe, will do over and over again! (I added uncooked shrimp the last 5 minutes. Thank you)

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  11. Would you have to double this if you were cooking 2 boxes of pasta?

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    1. Yes, you would. I've never doubled it, but I think you're in for a really good arm-muscle workout! :-)

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  12. Killer recipe! Super easy and incredibly tasty. Definitely saving this one!

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  13. So do you have to boil this in water? Or is the point of all the ingredients being in there takes its place? Sorry I'm new to cooking :)

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    1. Just follow the directions EXACTLY Kimberly. No need to boil the pasta separately -- it all takes place in ONE pot, that's the beauty of it. Good luck!!!

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  14. Made this for my mom, hubby, and sister tonight. It was definitely a huge hit! She asked me to make this for my uncle who eats a vegan diet. We are a huge Italian family so we know our pastas well! This is definitely one of the best I've made at home. It tasted like something I would get in a restaurant. The only thing I did differently was kept the heat on high. The sauce didn't thicken after 8 minutes...but every stove is different!! Thank you so much for this!

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    1. So happy you enjoyed it! And yes, no recipe timing is exact for every stove. :-)

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  15. I pinned this a while ago because I love the one pot idea, and I finally got around to making it tonight using fresh herbs from the garden. It was so delicious! I did cook mine a few extra minutes because it was still a little runny at 8 minutes (I left it boiling on high the whole time) and it turned out amazing. I can't wait to make it again and try new veggies/combinations! Thank you for this great recipe!

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    1. Awesome, Lisa -- so glad you finally got around to it! Be sure to check out my new Asian one-pot pasta as well. It's just as easy and yummy!

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  16. I just made this. IT.IS.SO.GOOOOOD! I used Barilla gluten free pasta and added a little bit more water.

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  17. This was great! Made it today and it was 40 min from the moment I decided to make it to the time it was served on the table. And best of all everyone loved it! Even the kids :)

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