I came home ravenous last night after my first real run of the season. It felt great to get moving again but I needed to make something that was fast, easy and hard to mess up so that I could engage in some necessary r&r.

In previous weeks I’d seen a few recipes for this method of cooking pasta and it blew my mind. I had truly never thought about cooking the pasta IN the sauce. Brilliant! 

Tonight I made my first batch of ‘one pot pasta’ with red onions, bell pepper, and kale but the beauty of this dish is that it is a tremendously versatile technique. As always, I have my ‘thoughts for next time noted below’ but an important tip from Minimalist Baker is to use spaghetti or penne so that the noodles are less likely to stick together.

Ingredients:

• 12 oz pasta
• 1 pepper
• 1/2 red onion
• 1/2 bunch of kale – chopped
• 2 cups of marinara sauce
• 2-3 cups water
• 1/4 teaspoons cracked red pepper
• 1 teaspoon basil

Steps and Notes:

1. Heat the oil in a large pot and saute the onions until translucent.
2. Then add the garlic, peppers and kale. Cook for 3 more minutes until the veggies are soft. Sprinkle with some salt and black pepper
3. Add the pasta to the same pan then cover with the water and marinara sauce.  
4. Add the seasonings, and a bit more salt and pepper and mix well
5. Bring to a boil and then down to a simmer and cook until the pasta is al dente.
   • It took me about 20 minutes and I had to stir every few minutes to ensure it didn’t stick to the bottom of the pan
6. Serve topped with freshly grated parmesan

Thoughts for Next Time:

• Add fresh spinach instead of kale
• Make a meat sauce with ground turkey or italian sausage
• Experiment with a variation of this turkey alfredo ziti
• Try these spicy thai noodles