For The Picky One-pot Spaghetti I Made It

For The Picky One-Pot Spaghetti

frankieanne 7 years ago
posted by Pink
For The Picky One Pot Spaghetti
I made this up to take to work for lunch this coming week. I had an open box of faralle and I know it was more than 1/2 of a pound, but I dumped it all in anyway. Thus, I did add another 3/4 cup of liquid. I guess how this ends up tasting depends on the sauce you use but I felt mine could have used some garlic. Also, I used two teaspoons of Italian herb seasoning rather than one each of basil and oregano. I wish I would have thought of using my fresh basil that I plenty of but - no, I did not!
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hungrynow 7 years ago said:

Now this looks like a fun recipe for our next adventure! We are picking up our new Casita trailer in Texas come September and I need a few easy, good recipes to keep us fed and happy for our return trip to California. Thanks for trying it out for us!

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bakerme 7 years ago said:

Another professional, food magazine-quality photo, Frankie! You missed your calling and need to get a job as a food photographer! I like to use my leftover marinara sauce like this and it makes a quick meal. Great idea of cooking the dry pasta right in the sauce. I've toyed with the idea of growing my own basil so I can use fresh instead of dried, but haven't because I don't think I'd use it up as fast as it grows.

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DIZ3 7 years ago said:

Great looking photo! Too bad about the fresh basil. It would have made this really good. When I make spaghetti sauce, I use the jarred stuff as a base. You're right, the flavor is different for every brand and variety sold. I have the same trouble with recipes that call for BBQ sauce. The flavors vary so much that how do you know which one to use?

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Cosmicmother 7 years ago said:

Looks Good!
I've never made a one pot pasta dish before. How long did it take for the pound of Farfalle to cook?

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frankieanne 7 years ago said:

Thank you, everyone!
It took 28 minutes to cook. :)

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Cosmicmother 7 years ago said:

Thanks FA :)
I have a pound of Farfalle, so I'll have to give this a try!

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mommyluvs2cook 7 years ago said:

My favorite pasta sauce's right now is Trader Joe's Puttanesca sauce and Organic Ville tomato basil sauce. Both are delicious and you can read and recognize all of the ingredients :) My kiddos would love this, beautiful picture FA!

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frankieanne 7 years ago said:

Thank you, Michelle. I wish Trader Joe's was closer to me. The nearest is 60 miles, darn it.

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mommyluvs2cook 7 years ago said:

I'm surprised in California that they don't have more TJ's, especially since they were founded there and the headquarters is there? Weird!

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bakerme 7 years ago said:

Frankie, I'd gladly go 60 miles. The closest Trader Joe's to us is a 2-hour drive!

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frankieanne 7 years ago said:

I have gotten tired of this quite quickly as a re-heat for work lunches. This isn't a great recipe for one!

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mommyluvs2cook 7 years ago said:

Lol, how much do you have left?

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DIZ3 7 years ago said:

A lot of times I'll mix in vegetables like mushrooms, squash, artichokes, black olives, and even Brussels sprouts to spaghetti dishes just for some variety. Oh, and lots of EXTRA cheese!

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bakerme 7 years ago said:

I was going to ask if you could freeze what's left, but I don't think pasta freezes well. After eating it all week, I bet it's a long time before you have spaghetti again!

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frankieanne 7 years ago said:

I have enough for about eight more lunches, Michelle. :-P
I probably should have just used the .5 pound of pasta as directed instead of wanting to use up the open box.
I was thinking some cheese would help. I have some mozzarella. Maybe I will try that today.
Pasta. Ugh. :-D

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bakerme 7 years ago said:

Hey, here's an idea....take lunch for your co-workers tomorrow to celebrate the end of the week! For sides, buy a loaf of Italian bread and a bag of premade salad on your way home and whip up a pan of brownies (or buy them, too) and there's the whole meal! Whadya think??

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frankieanne 7 years ago said:

Thank you for the suggestion, Bakerme. I do appreciate it. The guys are working out of town this week. :)

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bakerme 7 years ago said:

Darn! And I don't think everything will keep until Monday to welcome them back :p

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frankieanne 7 years ago said:

Yeah. They usually only like it when I bring pizza or pie. :)

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bakerme 7 years ago said:

:)

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Cosmicmother 7 years ago said:

I'm just eating this now, yum!
I didn't follow the recipe per se, but used the method.
I used Italian turkey sausage, and added in a small diced zucchini and two cloves of garlic. I used a 21 oz (650ml) jar of tomato basil sauce and a 16 oz can of diced tomatoes with the juice ( I used a pound of farfalle). I did use the 2 cups of water, and added a little bit more in the middle of cooking because it looked really thick. The pasta was done in about 25 minutes (my pot retains heat fairly well and it boiled the whole time on low)
It's nice and thick, and has the taste and consistency of a ragu. Part of that is probably from all the starch that gets cooked into the sauce. The kids love it too, so a huge thumbs up!

Lol, Frankieanne...A pound of pasta usually feeds our family of four two full meals, and if we're lucky we might get a lunch for two! You could probably freeze it in a foil tray, and next time you want a meal, top it with cheese and bake like a lasagna. :)

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mommyluvs2cook 7 years ago said:

Awww darn, sounds like your gonna have to throw some out :( Maybe you could try freezing it and see how it turns out? I've never frozen pasta before. Bakerme had a great idea, too bad all those hungry guys are gone! What about stirring in some pesto or something to change the flavor a little?

Yours looks amazing Shona!

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bakerme 7 years ago said:

I love the idea of cooking the sauce and pasta in one pot. Since I make something like this using my own leftover marinara sauce, cooking the pasta separately and stirring it into the sauce, I want to try this method for easy clean-up. It's usually just a couple of cups of sauce, so how do I figure out how much water and pasta to use? Is it like making rice, where you use double the amount of water to the amount of rice?

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Cosmicmother 7 years ago said:

Bakerme, I'd say it's more like a risotto in a way. Use enough liquid so that the pasta is just submerged. Keep the pot covered, and stir every few minutes. If it feels too thick after awhile, add some more liquid. :) The ratio of pasta to water might change depending on the type of pasta you use? So I'm not sure if there's a scientific ratio to use! Lol, ;)
I love, love, that I didn't have to drain the pasta and use two different pots/pans!

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bakerme 7 years ago said:

Thanks, Cosmicmom. I've never made risotto, so I don't know how to cook it. When I use leftover marinara for a quick meal like this one, I use Barilla whole grain elbow macaroni. It sounds like it's going to be a matter of trial and error using the one pot method, but a tasty one ;)

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frankieanne 7 years ago said:

You might just try using the ratio in the recipe in this thread and see how it goes - 1/2 pound of pasta, 14 ounces of sauce and 2 cups of water. You may want to start with only one cup of water if you don't put any meat in the mix and see how it goes.

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bakerme 7 years ago said:

Thanks, Frankie. I usually have a couple of cups of marinara sauce (meatless) and cook 1/2 C. dry pasta to mix into it. Figuring 8 oz. equals 1 C., 14 oz. of sauce is a little over
1-1/2 C., so 1 C. water would be a good starting point and, as you said, I can always add more if needed. Boy, I'm confused, but I'll figure it out ;)

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frankieanne 7 years ago said:

Cosmicmother, I could have sworn I responded to your post. I must not have hit the "post" button.
I like the addition of the zucchini! What a great idea. Yours sounded like it had a lot more flavor than mine. It is a pretty thick dish. I didn't put two and two together with the starch going into it. Topping this with cheese sounds good, too!

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Cosmicmother 7 years ago said:

I think the Italian turkey sausages helped with the flavour! (they have a fennel/basil flavour) I also used Italian seasoning like you did instead of the oregano and basil. I intended to use a can of tomato sauce like the recipe said, but when I went into the pantry I only had the large can of diced tomatoes! Using that added more tomato liquid rather than all water, so that probably helped with flavour a bit. I always sneak veggies in where I can with these picky kids! If I had carrots and celery, I would have snuck those in too, lol ;)

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