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 dad loved to cook but worked 12 hour days so he could never make us a meal let alone sit at the table and share a meal with us. But every once in awhile, when his schedule was open around dinner time, he would make his decadent seafood pasta. And it was like a big warm hug every single time.
One of my all-time favorite memories: My boyfriend first asked me out when my sister was visiting in town visiting. I told him I wanted to go on a date, but he’d have to wait until my sister left — in two weeks. So the three of us are hanging out, and he starts talking up his killer avocado pesto recipe and then invites us both to have a pesto pasta dinner at his house. He essentially ended up having to date me and my sister both for the first two weeks of our relationship, and I was totally head over heels. It wasn’t until maybe 6 months later that he admitted that he had never actually made the avocado pesto before… I think he could have served Kraft mac and cheese and he still would have had me hooked!
My favorite pasta memory is going out to dinner on Valentine’s day worth my 18 month old child. Her dad was in class that night, so i took my daughter to dinner. We ate at an Italian restaurant, i ordered buttered noodles for her and a bucatini amatriciana. 8 years later, i now recognize that night as foreshadowing – the daughter and i continue to celebrate our love. And her dad and i are divorced.
When I was seventeen, I tagged along with my parents on a business trip trip to Rome. We arrived at our hotel after 10p — absolutely ravenous — and asked the hotel for a restaurant recommendation. They referred us to a tiny establishment just around the corner from the hotel. When we arrived there, it was packed! I recall my parents having no idea what to order, but we were served a farfalle/mushroom/garlic/flat leaf parsley dish that I have never forgotten. It wasn’t until I was in my 30’s that I finally figured out how to recreate it. So simple, yet so delicious. Even now, the memory is so strong, I can smell the garlic :)
My favorite pasta memory is when I made Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo for the first time and it came out so amazing! I made it a million times the simple way, but then began experimenting with gorgonzola dolce and spinach. Uhh I’m drooling now just thinking about it!!
My favourite pasta memory.. if I HAVE to pick just one would be the horrific (now hilarious) event that was my first time making pasta from stratch. I commited to trialing my new pasta maker the night of having friends over for dinner. I should have known.. I really struggled with feeding it through the pasta maker to turn it into fettuccini so I ended up manually slicing the sheets of pasta and served a very homemade, wonky rustic type pasta. It was delicious but not the prettiest..but very funny. Lesson learnt.
I almost need to have another dinner party, 2.0 and wow them with one pot pasta and hopefully redeem myself by serving it in a fancy Le Crueset pan!
Pasta memories….my best ones are when I lived in Delaware where sea food was plentiful. There was always a yummy pasta and sea food dish there. Now I’m in Texas in the dry lands. Lol
My husband and I decided one weekend to make homemade lasagna. We made fresh lasagna noodles, bolognese and bechamel sauce. It turned out amazing!,
My favorite pasta memory has to be learning how to make homemade, baked mac and cheese from my grandmother. My siblings, cousins, and I grew up having it with every holiday meal. It’s the reason why I’ve gotten as much into cooking as I am. Standing there in the kitchen with my grandma, learning her recipe, is what sparked me to love cooking. Hopefully, teaching my kids that same recipe will spark the same love in them.
This looks delicious! My favorite pasta memory is eating large plates of messy spaghetti for dinner with my brother and sister, then curling up with them while my dad read us one of our favorite books, “More Spaghetti, I Say!”