One-Pot Pasta
This is one of those speedy pantry meals that takes little effort and, with one pot, the clean up is easy .You can double the recipe to have enough for lunch the next day, or bulk out the meal with "cheat's meatballs". These are my son's specialty and basically involve squeezing our the contents of quality sausages, rolling into meatballs then cooking in a frying pan until browned.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 onion, chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, chopped
- about 400g seasonal vegetables cut into bite-sized pieces - I used the last marrow from the garden; broccoli or kale can also be used
- 400 g can chopped tomatoes
- 2 cups hot vegetable stock or boiling water
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 250 g fusilli (spiral) pasta
- cracked pepper
- handful basil leaves - I still have several small plants growing in the glasshouse - or 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- grated parmesan cheese to serve
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a large wide-based saucepan. Add the chopped onion and sauté for 5 minutes, until softened. Add the garlic and vegetables and cook for a further 3 minutes. Add the tomatoes, hot stock or water, salt and pasta. At this stage, the pasta should be covered by the liquid. Slightly cover with a lid and cook over a medium heat, stirring every 2-3 minutes to check the pasta isn't sticking.
- As soon as the pasta is al-dente, about 10 minutes, remove from the heat. Stir through the basil or oregano, cover with a lid and leave to steam for 5-10 minutes while setting the table. Serve with grated parmesan and extra olive oil for drizzling at the table.