Quick Cooking: Testing A One Pot Recipe

I've taken to not looking at Pinterest very often. I've noticed that it can take a few days, sometimes a week or so, for "pin trends" to run their course and new content to post.

That's not to say that I'm not interested in any of the trending pins - I repin those that look interesting and eventually get around to testing them for myself. And that's the case with this recipe.

Supposedly you can cook a complete, tasty pasta dish in one pot at one time. So I gave it a try last week when I was in a hurry to prepare a healthy dinner.

All in all, we liked it. I've noted some items at the end that I might do differently next time.

One Pot Tomato Basil Pasta

Following this recipe with some modifications

• 12 oz long pasta (I used linguine)
• 1 15 oz can diced zesty red pepper tomatoes, undrained
• 1 medium onion, julienned
• 3 t crushed garlic
• 1/4 t red pepper flakes
• 4 1/2 c vegetable broth
• 2 T extra virgin olive oil
• 2 T basil (or you can use fresh basil)
• Parmesan cheese

Put pasta, tomatoes, onion and garlic in a large stock pot. Add vegetable broth. Top with pepper flakes, then drizzle with oil. Cover pot and bring to a full rolling boil. Reduce heat to low simmer and cook, covered, stirring every 2 minutes or so. Cook until almost all liquid has evaporated - approximately 10 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Add basil and stir pasta several times to distribute the liquid. Top with Parmesan cheese before serving.

Things I would consider adding - mini mozzarella balls, mini precooked meatballs