One Pot Meal: Tomato Basil Pasta (No Draining!)

LilacDreamer

This has been going around facebook and pinterest. Figured I'd post it.



Do not DRAIN (or strain) out ANY of the liquid.




I BELIEVE it may have originated here:

http://www.apronstringsblog.com/one-pot-wonder-tomato-basil-pasta-recipe/

and here it is on pintrest:

http://pinterest.com/pin/66005950761655715/


Original Recipe:

"ONE POT WONDER TOMATO BASIL PASTA

Serves 4 to 6 as an entree

12 ounces linguine pasta
1 can (15 ounces) diced tomatoes with liquid ( I used zesty red pepper flavor)
1 large sweet onion, cut in julienne strips
4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 teaspoons dried oregano leaves
2 large sprigs basil, chopped
4 1/2 cups vegetable broth (regular broth and NOT low sodium)
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Nutritional Yeast or Parmesan cheese for garnish

Place pasta, tomatoes, onion, garlic, basil, in a large stock pot. Pour in vegetable broth. Sprinkle on top the pepper flakes and oregano. Drizzle top with oil.

Cover pot and bring to a boil. Reduce to a low simmer and keep covered and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring every 2 minutes or so. Cook until almost all liquid has evaporated – I left about an inch of liquid in the bottom of the pot – but you can reduce as desired .

Season to taste with salt and pepper , stirring pasta several times to distribute the liquid in the bottom of the pot. Serve garnished with parmesan cheese."



My notes:
I made it last night. I never use recipes, everything I make always comes from my head so I figured I'd forget something. It turned out okay, maybe a bit starchier than I'd like (which made it softer) but my husband liked it a lot. I'm sure after a night in the fridge it'll firm um some.

I made a double batch and altered it a little. I used 24oz of pasta (12oz of whole wheat spaghetti and 12oz of regular rigatoni), low-sodium organic vegetable broth even though it says not to (no big deal). I used plum tomatoes instead of canned. Cayenne instead of red pepper flakes...oh and I threw in about 16 handfuls of organic basil. I don't play when it comes to basil, I can't get enough of it.

Give it a shot, but make sure you don't leave it uncovered for the first 10 minutes like I did. That just makes it take that much longer. Oh and keep stirring, even when you think you cant possibly stir anymore. you can. so do it.

hungryhobbit1

Seems like it would be really high in sodium, and starchy, with all of that vegetable broth and not draining the pasta.

xstarxdustx

bump.

1brokegal44

Funny--I made this last night too! It was a hit. My only complaint is that there is too much pasta in relation to the tomatoes. Next time I make it, I'm using half as much pasta and doubling the tomatoes. Otherwise it was yummy!

LilacDreamer

Seems like it would be really high in sodium, and starchy, with all of that vegetable broth and not draining the pasta.

I can see that you only looked at the recipe and avoided my notes.

It's only high on sodium if you stick to the recipe. As I stated, I used LOW SODIUM Organic Vegetable broth from Trader joes. You can also use fresh tomatoes or No Salt Added Canned Tomatoes.

There's no reason you can't alter the recipe just like I did. Mine ended up having less than 100mg of sodium per serving. I monitor my sodium daily and I consume 1,800mg or less per day.

LilacDreamer

Funny--I made this last night too! It was a hit. My only complaint is that there is too much pasta in relation to the tomatoes. Next time I make it, I'm using half as much pasta and doubling the tomatoes. Otherwise it was yummy!

I forgot to add that I threw in some organic jarred marinara sauce too to help thin out the tomatoes a little bit. I only had 2 containers of Low sodium broth which makes 8 cups (not the 9 it calls for if you double the recipe) so I needed something else flavorful to make up for that. I wasn't going to ruin it with plain water.

random_20

I made this for lunch and it was great I think next time I'll use half of the pasta and use sliced zucchini or I might use rice noodles instead, I think I could easily cook up a bunch for work lunches. Thanks for the recipe ????

LilacDreamer

I made this for lunch and it was great I think next time I'll use half of the pasta and use sliced zucchini or I might use rice noodles instead, I think I could easily cook up a bunch for work lunches. Thanks for the recipe ????

Glad you enjoyed it. Let me know how the alterations turn out. I have 4 containers worth sitting in the fridge that we've just been heating up for meals. I top it with nutritional yeast.

LilacDreamer

bump

tomsgirlalways

Yum! I made a big ole pot of it tonight. It's delicious. Do you have a calorie count per serving?