One Pot Pasta Primavera

I've seen the pictures all over Pinterest. The pot with dried pasta and a bunch of other stuff mixed in. You are just supposed to cook it up and Viola! A dish that would make Lidia Bastianich proud.

I have to admit I was a bit of a skeptic. It couldn't be that good. Then my mom told me that she had tried it when she saw it featured in Martha Stewart's magazine (after all, if Martha is doing it...).

I decided this week to take the One Pot Pasta Plunge. Only I was going to make mine just a bit different.

First I gathered some veggies. Summer Squash, garlic, onion. The garlic and onion are straight from my Dad's garden. The squash is from some unnamed garden some place else. I found both in the marked down produce section at the grocery store. My Dad's squash plants were washed away during some of the heavy rains we had. Poor little squash plants.

Don't fuss. I realize they are canned tomatoes. I do have a few ripe ones from the garden, but I am hoarding them like Josiah hoardes Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. I enjoy a fresh sliced tomato with almost everything. Which means I wasn't about to waste one on something I didn't know would work. For this dish I used some canned ones I had under the cabinet. These are seasoned (I got them at the discount grocery for .49), but you can use whatever you wish. It's your pasta!

This is the pasta I use. It is a little more, but it is supposed to be better for those concerned with the glycemic index. Dreamfields has a few more varieties. I used Angel Hair because it is what I had.

I tossed everything in the pot. Along with 4 cups of chicken stock, some sprigs of basil, red chili flakes, some thyme (because I love thyme) and salt and pepper. Not too much, my chicken stock was plenty salty.

I then covered the pot and brought it to a boil. I lowered the heat and cooked for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Then I took the lid off the pot and let it cook until the pasta was done (stirring as needed). The angel hair didn't take as long as regular spaghetti would. You just have to watch it.

I worried for just a bit that I had added too much water. I worried for nothing (which is generally the case). It all absorbed up nicely and made a wonderful little sauce.

This was the final result. I had made some of my cheesy meatballs (recipe coming soon) to serve with it. It was perfect. I can't believe how yummy and easy it was!

Another thing about this dish is that it was even good the next day. Pasta doesn't keep well in the fridge (it gets all glummy). This pasta was all nice and delish. No glummies!

Here is my recipe.

One box of pasta (I used a 13.something box)
1 yellow squash (sliced)
1 zucchini (sliced
1/2 onion (sliced thinly)
3 cloves of garlic
1 can of tomatoes, drained just a bit
4 cups of chicken stock
2 Tablespoons of olive oil
red chili flakes (I probably used 1/2 tsp.)
salt and pepper
dried thyme (just a shake)

Throw everything in a pot. Put pot on High Heat and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat (just a bit) and boil for 5 minutes. Take the lid off and boil until the pasta is cooked. I let mine sit on the stove just for a minute. That helped the liquid absorb even more.