One pot pastas have been an obsession of mine ever since I saw them pop up on the internet. I’m pretty sure the first one I ever came across was Martha’s, but I never actually got around to making it. Years went by and I finally, finally got around to giving one pot pasta a try and oh my gosh, I can honestly say I do not know why I went all those years without making it.
To be honest, I was a little skeptical of one-pot pastas. I didn’t really understand how everything could come together. I’ve always, always cooked pasta separately – even when I’m making a noodle soup, I’ll cook the noodles on the side and then add them into the broth. So it was with a bit of hesitation that I made this. I went with some super spring-time flavours because the past week has just been absolutely gorgeous. Of course today is incredibly gloomy again – spring isn’t here just yet.
While I’m waiting for those bright and fresh spring days, I’ll be filling up on one-pot meals. This came together quickly and I was really pleased with the silkiness of the sauce. Lots of pasta recipes actually call for a bit of pasta water to bind – the starch that is released when pasta is cooked is similar to the starch released when you make a risotto, so the theory behind one pot pasta is sound. The result: a silky, slightly sticky thick sauce flavoured with garlic, red pepper flakes, much like the classic aglio e olio. I didn’t use any cheese in this recipe and I found that I didn’t miss it at all. Don’t forget the squeeze of lemon at the end – it adds just the right amount of brightness and acid to go with the scallops.
I hope you guys give this recipe a try! And to encourage you even more, I’m hosting a giveaway of the braiser I used to make it! See below for details.
One-Pot Lemon Scallop Pea Spaghetti Recipe inspired by The Faux Martha
serves 3-4
prep time: 10 minutes
cook time: 15 minutes
total time: 25 minutes
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 lb small scallops
- 4 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 2 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken stock
- 1/2 pound spaghetti
- 1 lemon, zested and juiced (about 1/4 cup juice)
- 3/4 cup peas, defrosted
- 1/4 cup roughly chopped flat leaf parsley
- red pepper flakes, to serve
- salt and freshly ground pepper
Pat the scallops dry and season all sides generously with salt and pepper. Heat up a small amount of olive oil over medium high heat and cook the scallops until golden brown on both sides, 1-2 minutes per side. Remove from the pan and set aside.
Add the remaining olive oil to the pan and turn the heat to medium. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes, and cook, stirring, until the garlic is slightly golden, but not brown, about 1 minute. Add the chicken stock and uncooked pasta. Bring to a boil and then turn down to low. Cover and cook for 8 minutes.
Remove the cover and simmer to reduce the sauce, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the scallops, defrosted peas, lemon juice, lemon zest, and flat leaf parsley. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper to taste and enjoy hot!
Giveaway: I’ve paired up with Le Creuset to give away one gorgeous braiser in the winner’s color of choice! I am seriously in love with mine – it’s perfect for making one-pot pastas!
Enter: To enter, leave a comment below with your favorite pasta memory. I want to hear ALL the details! I’ll randomly choose a winner and notify them through email. Open to US residents only. (Sorry international friends!) Also, if you’re feeling so inclined, please vote for me on the Munchies. It won’t get you an extra entry, but it will be bonus karma! Contest ends March 4th at 12pm PST. Good luck!
Update: Congrats Ace! Get ready for the one pot pastas because a braiser is heading your way! Keep your eyes peel for an email from me!
My favorite pasta memory is learning to make handmade fettuccine and pappardelle with my mom and grandma in the kitchen my mom grew up in. I remember rolling out the dough and running it through the hand-cranked pasta maker. I remember it being the best pasta I’d ever had. I still use that recipe!
I could really really use that Braiser pretty badly, so I hope I’m the random winner! I love this blog and make your yakiudon all. the. time!
Thanks!
My sister and I tried cooking pasta together for the first time, and everything was just not going in our favor. I guess we should’ve check available ingredients… and whether anything had molded. -__-;
My favorite pasta memory was watching Ina Garten make her lemon and garlic shrimp pasta on tv. It was before I had ever started cooking anything and this was my first inspiration! I asked my mother to take me to the grocery store, I bought the ingredients, and made my first dish that nice. The pasta was so easy and light, it made me fall in love with a new hobby!
Pasta has always played a big part in family meals at my house. From childhood I’ve been a spaghetti fiend! When I was little we went to disney and I ate spaghetti the entire week for almost every meal! No regrets!
Absolutely love the recipe and the photos and would be the happiest little busy bee if I won that Creuset brasier. Now how to choose my favorite pasta memory. Not an easy task when you’re married to an Italian. But maybe it would be when I first moved to Italy like 10yrs ago as a study abroad student. I lived in the beautiful town of L’Aquila. My house was in the old city center just outside of the “corso” the main Street. It was there that I first attempted to make homemade pasta. And being an over achiever I attempted to make ravioli. To say that I failed miserably would be an understatement. But my boyfriend at the time was kind enough to eat the meal without judging. I’d say he gave me an “A” for effort. I still have happy memories of that dish, that day, that period in time despite the culinary disaster.
Oh heavens, that recipe looks amazing. That’ll be going on my dinner menu asap.
My favorite pasta memory is when my dad taught me how to make lasagna when I was little. What a mess! He’s always so particular about recipes and teaching an 8-year-old how to fold together the ricotta and cheeses was probably a pain. But I was so proud of myself to have cooked the pasta perfectly and then the cheese on top burned, my dad very sweetly scraped it off and put a fresh layer to be cooked under HIS supervision haha. Lasagna is always a great memory for me and my dad.
My first and most vivid pasta experience was in middle school home ec class. We were taught to throw the spaghetti on the wall to check its doneness. Truth be told I still do it til this day!
The first meal I cooked for my husband when he finally got his green card and moved to NY: spaghetti with spinach/white bean/tomato sauce and blue cheese.
Pasta has always been a staple for me, especially in college because it was quick and easy. Before moving out to an apartment, I lived on campus, which means DINING HALLS. At one particular dining hall, they would make a pasta dish to order with your choice of sauce, veggies and cheese. My favorite was always an all green looking pasta with spinach, broccoli, asparagus and a pesto cream sauce. After moving off campus, I couldn’t help but want to recreate that dish with my roommates. We all remembered how delicious it was. So we spent a night trying to do whatever we could to make it happen. The result was a thick (but still edible!) goop of pasta and veggies. The sauce was way too thick but it was fun to try and just to hang out with friends reminiscing over the terribly not terrible dining hall dish.
Growing up in a Filipino household, our spaghetti was always sweeter with hot dogs in it. Once we moved to America, my mom still made incredible spaghetti but it didn’t have the same flavor since we couldn’t find banana ketchup. I’ve always known spaghetti/pasta to be what my mom made and that other families ate canned pasta sauce so I didn’t realize how delicious red sauce could be when made from scratch!
I’ve created pasta sauce from scratch for a few years but now I crave my mom’s spaghetti and have never attempted to make it. Since I grew up with her cooking it and I’ve moved away, I guess it’s time for me to try and recreate it. I think my favorite pasta memory will be when I see her next time and ask her to teach me how to make it :)