One Pot Wonder Tomato Basil Pasta Recipe
Try this One Pot Wonder Tomato Basil Pasta recipe, or contribute your own.
Try this One Pot Wonder Tomato Basil Pasta recipe, or contribute your own.
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- parmesan cheese for garnish
- 1 can (15 ounces) diced tomatoes with liquid ( i used ze
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano leaves
- 12 ounces linguine pasta
- 1 medium sweet onion cut in 1/4 inch julienne strips (use an onion such as vidalia or walla walla)
- 4 cloves garlic very thinly sliced
- 4 1/2 cups vegetable broth (use regular broth and not low sod
- 1 bunch (about 10 to 12 leaves) basil diced
- Carbohydrate 70.079523493185 g
- Cholesterol 0 mg
- Fat 4.627897693305 g
- Fiber 3.68221673466413 g
- Protein 11.808177889845 g
- Saturated Fat 0.694421755711 g
- Serving Size 1 1 to 6 serving (177g)
- Sodium 11.864523533 mg
- Sugar 66.3973067585209 g
- Trans Fat 0.585728078239 g
- Calories 372 calories
Step-by-step
- Place pasta, tomatoes, onion, and garlic 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.
- Add basil leaves and stir pasta several times to distribute the liquid in the bottom of the pot evenly throughout the pasta as you are serving.
- Serve garnished with Parmesan cheese.
Cooking pasta and sauce together in a single stockpot eliminates excess equipment while strictly limiting how much liquid you can add at the start. Because none of the starchy cooking water goes down the drain, the starches shed by the boiling linguine remain inside the pot to emulsify with the olive oil and tomato juices. This unconventional method requires precise starting measurements because adding too much vegetable broth prevents the starches from concentrating into a glossy coating, leaving you with a watery soup instead of a cohesive sauce.
Starch behaves unpredictably when boiled without adequate initial movement, meaning raw strands will mat together into a solid mass if left unattended during the first two minutes of high heat. Frequent agitation disrupts this tendency while encouraging the exterior of the pasta to shed amylose rapidly into the surrounding 4.5 cups of liquid. Thinly slicing the garlic cloves rather than mincing them ensures they melt evenly into the reducing broth without burning against the bottom of the vessel during the ten-minute simmer.
Many cooks ruin this preparation by substituting low-sodium broth or by prematurely lifting the lid to check on the noodles, which releases crucial steam pressure required for even softening. Maintaining a steady low simmer rather than a violent boil keeps the liquid level predictable while the starches thicken the remaining moisture. Watch the bottom of the pot carefully for the visual cue of roughly one inch of remaining liquid before removing the vessel from the heat source.
Folding in the diced basil leaves at the very end preserves their volatile aromatic oils, which degrade rapidly under prolonged heat exposure. Thoroughly distributing the remaining liquid just before plating ensures that every portion receives an equal share of the emulsified starch and oil mixture. Grating fresh Parmesan cheese over the finished dish adds salt and protein complexity that balances the sweetness of the vidalia onions and canned tomatoes.
