One Pot Pasta!

If you are looking for a quick to the table flavorful meal, this one is for you.  I saw this recipe back in the Fall and gave it a try and loved it.  I needed a quick meal last night so went to retrieve the recipe from my social media only to discover it gone.  Luckily I had a pretty good handle on the amounts of ingredients I would need so I just whipped up my own version.  The thing I love about this recipe is that you can use whatever you have on hand to make it.  I'll give you my version from last night and at the end give you some other options for ingredients.

One Pot Pasta

1/2 pound italian sausage (cooked)

1/2 cup onion, diced

1 cup portobello mushrooms (chopped)

1 cup grape tomatoes (diced)

1/2 pound (dry) linguini/angel hair spaghetti mixed

4 1/2 cups chicken broth

1 Tbsp Graziano's italian seasoning (sorry local family italian grocery store - any italian seasoning will do)

Put all of this into a large pot and bring to boil.  When it reaches boiling, turn down heat to simmer and put on lid and cook until you reach total cooking time of 20 minutes.  I topped mine with some bacon bits and crumbled feta cheese last night.

It really does only take 20 minutes of cooking time.  Another 5 to 10 to chop ingredients - depending on how skilled you are with a knife.

Now for other ingredients.  Pasta does not have to be spaghetti.  Penne, pipette, bow tie - really any kind works.

Personalize it to your families' taste.  I've used broccoli, peppers, chopped squash/zucchini, spinach, black olives.  Really any veggies you are a fan of work.

A tip when I cook up turkey italian sausage for my pasta dishes I always make it a double batch and then freeze half in a freezer bag.  Another reason why this is such a quick dish for me as I just grab a bag of precooked sausage from my freezer.  My local grocery store does sell precooked Graziano pork sausage so you might find it in yours.  

Another tip when I cook my bacon (in the oven at 375 degrees for 25 minutes for crispy bacon) I do the entire package and then store in refrigerator in a ziploc bag.  This allows you to use however many slices you need for pasta, salads, bacon egg muffins/burritos, etc.  Just a quick reheat in microwave and you are ready to use.

For those who are vegetarian the soy crumbles and vegetable broth are excellent options for your one pot pasta.

As I said, I topped mine with a few feta crumbles but shaved parmesan or your favorite cheese for pasta would be fine as well.

ENJOY!