One pot-pasta

40 minutes. One pot. Protein packed pasta for days.

I love making pasta, but I hate having multiple pans and pots going with everything done at a different time: the sauce, the noodles, the veggies. This solved that problem. With one-pot pasta the noodles are boiling in the sauce with the veggies and it is all done at the same time. The only thing you need a separate pan for is if you choose to have meat or make meatballs in the oven.

This makes approximately 6 servings and stays good for 4 days in the refrigerator.

Ingredients¹:

• Olive oil (3 Tbsp)

• Garlic (3 cloves)

• Yellow Onion (1/2)

• Diced tomatoes (2 cans)

• Chicken Stock (3 cups)

• Marinara sauce (1 jar)

• Pasta noodles (1 package)

• zucchini (1 cup cut)

• spinach (3 cups)

• mushrooms (1 cup cut)

• salt (1 teaspoon)

Optional:

• Garlic powder

• red pepper flakes

• rosemary

• basil

• oregano

• Heavy whipping cream (1/2-1 cup)

• Cook meat separately and add once cooked through

Directions:

Put all the ingredients together in a deep saucepan in the order they are listed. The pasta will boil in the sauce and broth. It will give the noodles a richer flavor and more protein! Just make sure the noodles are submerged in liquid for the duration of the boiling. Add more chicken stock or water to completely submerge them, should you need to. Once everything is in the pot together, cook on medium for about 30 minutes stirring frequently (so the noodles don’t stick).

Features:

-Protein packed noodles: cooking in water is great for convenience, but cooking regular noodles in chicken broth increases the protein content. Typical noodles don’t have much nutritional content so by adding them to broth their micronutrient value increases.

-Flavor: everything deserves flavor. By cooking/boiling in sauces, diced tomatoes, and spices, the veggies and noodles absorb the flavor leading to a richer holistic dish.

-Various veggies: Did you know recent research shows that not only the servings of plants matter but also the variety….which makes sense because with variety of vegetables comes variety of micronutrients. From what I have found 30 types of plants - herbs included- per week is recommended. This has seven different types in one dish and you could easily add more or different herbs/veggies!

-Leftovers: If you don’t enjoy leftovers…..I don’t know how you do it. I love coming home for dinner or packing my daughter’s lunch with leftovers from the day before. Knowing that this is premade meal but also homemade makes me feel like I cheated the system. You don’t need to buy frozen meals when you could make them!

Oh and this is all toddler approved:

1. Of course, the quality of the ingredients can lead to a more nutrient-dense dish. Look for organic spices, vegetables, and noodles; grass-fed meats; and sauces with no additives or unnecessary salts or sugars. Use real Celtic or Hawaiian salt and pasture-raised heavy whipping cream. Buying high-quality ingredients not only adds flavor but also increases the nutrient content.

However, sometimes cost is a bigger concern, and that’s okay. You don’t have to make the best choice every time: do what you can. Maybe buy organic produce but opt for cheaper spices. Choose a clean sauce with no additives but buy the meat that’s on BOGO. Quality is important, but home-cooked whole foods are still a million times better than processed foods, frozen meals, and even a lot of restaurant food.