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!
I was in a hostel in south Amrica, cooking unsuspectingly when a guy next to me was holding a bunch of spaghetti over his boiling pot. By sheer animal instinct I pounced on the poor guy with the first crack. I snatched the pasta out of his hands and told him never to pull off such a stunt again, and that if he wanted short pasta he can go buy himself some penne and that if i ever catch him trying to break perfectly good spaghetti again, the sauce gets it.
I will never forget my first trip to Venice, sitting by the water, slurping pasta with my girlfriends…
my favorite pasta memory was when I made fresh pasta for the first time! that + homemade bolognese made for a perfect dinner :)
My favorite pasta memory is making my first lasagna with my mom in high school. She is an excellent cook, and her recipe for vegetable lasagna is divine! I can still remember the mess that I made (it was my first time), but ultimately it came out almost as good as hers!
My favorite pasta memory is taking my volleyball team out to lunch at Vapiano last year in Washington, D.C. It was a wonderful meal, and the first time (yes, the first time!) I had ever had fresh pasta. It was quite the experience and great to take our team of local NC girls out to see the big city, walk around in Chinatown, and enjoy a great meal together.
My husband and I love to cook and seriously love hosting dinner parties. I remember the first time we decided to make home made pasta. We practiced at least 4 times to really get the dough perfect and tried out several different home made sauces. I’m a big planner when it comes to our dinner parties. I’ll have the menu figured out at least a week before, the shopping completed on the Monday so I only need to pick up the fresh produce. I also do as much prep work on Friday night so Saturday is smooth sailing. I also prepare a detailed time line by the hour to keep us on track. Embarrassingly even including the time to light the candles, put on the dinner party playlist, pull out the meat from the refrigerator, turn on the oven, etc. I continue to build my time lines because it helps keep us on track and lessens the stress. So the night of the first ever fresh pasta party, we were ahead of schedule and feeling good. Candles were lit, guests were arriving and the evening was underway. as the schedule dictated it was time to start the pasta water. My husband walked into our pantry to retrieve the fresh pasta and as far as we can piece together the clues, a racoon or bird or our neighbor’s cat entered through the open window and ate all the pasta. We have no doubt it was our best pasta to date.
My sister and I were backpacking through Italy and decided to stop at this small bistro while walking in Venice. It had been a LONG day and we were looking forward to the wine and food-we were starving!! We sat at the kitchen counter and ordered pasta of course and some appetizers. While sipping our wine, a few Italian cooks started chatting with us insisting that we were twins and insisted that they needed to get pictures with us to show their family. We thought this was odd, but obliged, hoping it would get us some free appetizers (which it did!). We scarfed down the three plates of appetizers, starting to feel a little full. But then… the pasta came out. It was absolutely beautiful. To this day, I still don’t know everything that was in that beautiful dish. It was salty and sweet; the perfect texture, and had some type of meat or salty fish. We were in heaven. The next day, we insisted on coming back, thinking that maybe it was THAT good because we were starving. Nope, the next day it was even better. When we came back to NYC, we tried a number of times to recreate the dish. We’ve come close, but haven’t been able to yet. My sister and I still talk about how one day, we’ll go back and get the recipe from that place.
My favorite pasta memory was definitely on a night when I had barely any food left in my refrigerator. I noticed I had one chicken breast left and some garlic cloves. Then, I saw some heavy cream leftover from some baking and got the idea to make a creamy chicken pasta! It was so yummy, and the homemade sauce was so smooth and not too creamy! I can’t wait to make it again—I felt so inventive!
My husband and I are both mac and cheese fiends, so we’re constantly trying new recipes and flavor combinations. It’s fun to be in the kitchen together, especially when pasta is involved!
My favorite pasta memory is cooking homemade jajangmyeon with my mother. The thick brown sauce is slightly salty and the noodles are perfect. I love it best with bits of bulgogi and vegetables in it. LOVE!