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!
One of my favorite pasta memories is actually making a somewhat similar bay scallop past with a creamy sauce. Towards the end of college, I went up in the middle of winter with a couple very close high school friends and we picked up a ton of groceries, hung out, cooked together, and laughed all weekend. One of the things we threw together was a pasta with bay scallops cooked in cream sauce with saffron – it came together super quickly and deliciously with all of us contributing spontaneously – just like our friendship!
My favorite pasta memory is definitely the first time I made it from scratch with my grandmother. I couldn’t believe how easy it was once I got the hang of it. I definitely still use box pasta some of the time but fresh pasta is oh so delicious and a great treat!
The first time I made pasta from scratch – it took forever, and I loved every minute of it. (I’m much faster now!)
My earliest and most favourite pasta memory was at my mother’s Italian friend’s house. I couldn’t have been older than 6, but I remember watching her roll out fresh pasta dough and helping her stir the bolognese. It is my first cooking memory, and I have been wanting to make my own fresh pasta ever since. One day I’ll give it a try! I think I’ve mastered the bolognese though :) Thanks for the opportunity to look back on this great memory.
My favorite pasta memory is the first time i made a frittata. I had found a recipe somewhere for a spaghettii frittata, and i happened to have some leftover spaghetti (with homemade sauce), so i threw it into the egg mix and topped it with sea salt and rosemary. I ate it every day for, like, three weeks. I even made a fresh batch of pasta just so i could keep it going. That was five years ago, and it was still the best pasta dish i’ve ever made.
My husband works a lot. A LOT a lot. But there’s a place here in Seattle that we both have a real weakness for (Il Corvo) that is only open for lunch on weekdays, so we almost never get to go there… but a few times he’s been able to take an hour or two away from work and we always order one of everything (their menu changes daily and only has three dishes) and it’s always fun to be surprised by what comes out and spend a bit of surprise time together doing my favourite thing (eating).
my favorite pasta memory is of my mom’s birthday when I was 7 or 8 years old – I ordered a whole (adult size) plate of chicken alfredo and an entire slice of cheesecake – convinced my parents I could eat it all (which I did, even after they warned me about how ill I would be) – then promptly threw it ALL up the moment we got home. Weird thing to be such a good memory, but it’s my parent’s favorite example of how I’ve been stubborn since I was a little kid!
In our family, the kids always slurped the spaghetti while twisting their ears with their hands simultaneously, pretending it’s a mechanical process controlled by your ears. It’s a fun tradition I like to now partake with my little one.
i love making pasta!
My favorite pasta memory was making pasta in Spain with an Italian guy I met while traveling. He was so frustrated by the lack of the RIGHT olive oil. During the cooking process he taught me how to appropriately use Italian hand gestures and when we were all finished about about to eat he said to me, “You American, you’ll never be Italian.” Apparently I just couldn’t get the gestures right! We laughed and had the best pasta dinner!