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 was when the very person I fell in love with cooked me the simplest pasta and I thought that was the most delicious pasta I’ve ever had. I had always had pasta that was made using a canned sauce. One day, he said he was going to cook dinner. He never cooked me dinner before, we used to buy food That day he bought a bag full of riped tomatoes and heat those tomatoes for 2 hours until they turn in to the freshest sauce I have ever had. He added salt, pepper and fresh basil. Cooked some penne and shaved romanesco on top. It was delicious. That day was the day I decided I want to learn how to cook and that was the first thing I did.
My favorite pasta memory is setting down with my family enjoying the blue box “pasta” when I was little. My mother has her special things she adds that makes it better, lol. Always tastes amazing when she makes it. Just us, around the table, talking and eating what we could afford at the time – this is when we were most content and happy. Thanks for the chance!
My mom used to make a big bowl of spaghetti with Ragu sauce and I would eat bowl after bowl of it. That was always the meal in which I over indulged.
My favorite pasta memory is our family trip to Italy. Thank you for posting this one pot recipe. Cannot wait to try it!
One of my favorite meals is Greek Shrimp, a scrumptious mixture of garlic, shrimp ,tomato sauce with white wine, feta and pasta of your choice. Always a big hit with friends and family1
We went to this small place attached to a pizza shop called “Bistro 1245.” We weren’t expecting much, especially because the prices seemed too low to justify good food. Boy were we wrong. And the dish that proved us wrong was a deceivingly simple spicy marinara fettuccine, flavored like the sea by a heaping pound of pei mussels on top… For $11. That was about 3 years ago and we still dream of those little mussels every now and then.
My favorite pasta memory is the first time I tried handmade thick rope spaghetti at an old old Italian restaurant in Louisville, Colorado. Interestingly, they have a very old Italian community. It was chewy and so flavorful. I had never tasted real pasta before that. And I’ve never tasted pasta like that again. Maybe it was the altitude or the pure air, but it was so good.
When I was younger my cousins and I would make homemade pasta. The noodles were pretty thick and uneven but they tasted so good because they were homemade!
I will always remember when my boyfriend and I made linguine from scratch on one of our first dates in high school. He had done it once before, but I had never made pasta. It was a new experience for both of us, and it turned out great! 8 years later, we still enjoy eating pasta together and our cooking skills are much more advanced!
Looove making homemade pasta sauce from our tomatoes in the summer, canning it all up, and then popping open the jars every winter. When you hear that “ping” and open the jar in January it feels like a breath of August floating in.