One Pot Pasta - a quick, easy and tasty dinner!

One of the things I like to do with my free time is to cook. It wasn't always like that

Growing up I wasn’t very interested in cooking. I thought it was a tedious task I only did when I was forced to do it.  When I moved into my first apartment I was thrown into the deep end. I couldn’t afford to eat out every day, so I had no choice but to start cooking. 

Over the years I’ve become much more confident in the kitchen and I enjoy trying out new recipes, tweaking and adjusting them. I’ve come to realize that the only way to get confident in the kitchen is to get in there and cook. I've had my share of disasters in the kitchen (don't even ask about the dinner party disaster that had me literally crying while calling for a pizza delivery), but instead of letting them discourage me I try to learn from them. 

A while back my sister introduced me to this dish; it's tasty and super easy to make.  Just toss all the ingredients in a pot, bring it to a boil and let it simmer until the pasta is done. 

The original recipe is from the Danish blogger Miss Jeanett.

One Pot Pasta

(Serves 2 persons)


The ingredients:

• 250 grams of spaghetti (8,8 oz / 0,55 lb)

• 7 dl water (3 cups / 1,5 pint)

• 200-300 g small flavorful tomatoes (7-10oz / 0,45-0,65 lb)

• 1 onion

• 2 cloves of garlic

• 100 grams of spinach (3,5 oz / 0,22 lb) I have used kale as a substitute and it was ok, but I prefer spinach

• Some fresh basil

• 1 dl double cream (0,42 cup / 0,2 pint)

• Olive oil

• Lemon oil (I have never used that, I’ve used juice from 1/2 lemon or 1 lime to add some zingy taste)

• Spices (salt, pepper, chili flakes, dried basil, onion powder are suggestions on the blog where I found the recipe)

• Shredded parmesan (sprinkle over each plate when serving)

How to do it:

• Split the tomatoes in halves  

• Slice onion and garlic thinly 

• Rinse the spinach

• Break the spaghetti in half  

Put all the ingredients in a large pot.  It’s important that all the ingredients are in the pot before you turn on the heat so they're heated simultaneously.  When it starts to boil let it simmer for about 9 minutes.  Watch it and stir regularly to make sure it doesn’t stick on the bottom of the pot.  When the pasta is cooked take the pot off the heat and let it set for 3-5 minutes before serving it.  
I have substituted the spaghetti with tagliatelle and it worked well. Tagliatelle takes a little longer to cook than spaghetti and the longer cooking time gave the sauce a more creamy consistency. 


Add salt, pepper and parmesan to taste when you serve it.

Bon apetit!