3 EASY One Pot Pasta Recipes | Dinner Made Easy

Hey lovelies! All month long I am committing to making dinners in your house a little easier, and today that means one pot pasta, three delicious ways. If you're not familiar with the concept of one pot pasta, it could definitely change your life. The idea is instead of cooking your pasta separately and your sauce separately, you basically cook them both together using some really flavorful broth in a single pot. That being said, there are some purists out there who do not love the concept of one pot pasta, but to them I say don't knock it until you've tried it. Now I've already shared a ton of great one pot pasta ideas on the channel, so after you watch this video, if you're looking for even more yummy inspiration, be sure to check out this video or this video. Without further ado, let's get to today's offering. We are starting with some creamy Cajun one pot pasta. If you've been with the channel for a while, you probably know how obsessed I am with beautiful Cajun flavors, and this one has a lot of that. We are getting started with a nice big pot on the stove. Really important when you're making this type of dish to use a big pot. I'm going to add some oil to that, heat it up over medium high, and once that oil is nice and hot, in goes our onions, our celery, and our bell pepper. Basically there is nothing I love more in life than the smell of onions frying. It's probably why I ended up doing what I do for a living. You really have to love the smell of onions frying to do what I do for a living. I'm going to cook those until they start to soften up, about three or four minutes, and then I'm going to add some kielbasa. Now because kielbasa is sort of a pre-cooked type of sausage, you don't have to worry about really cooking it through, but if you are going to swap in say an andouille sausage or something like that, you definitely want to make sure it is cooked until no longer pink. At this point, we are also going to add our garlic and our Cajun seasoning. Now I'm using store-bought here, but I also have a great recipe for a homemade Cajun seasoning. I will leave a link in the description box below. You can make a big batch of it and then store it in your pantry, and it is ready when you have a for some Cajun goodness. Once that hits the pan, you're going to let it cook for 15 to 30 seconds, and then it is time to add your pasta. I am using some linguine, but of course, the world is your oyster. Use whatever pasta you have on hand. I'm putting it right into my pan. Don't panic. I know this is where people start to get heart palpitations when you're doing one pot pasta. They're like, no, wait, stop. It can't possibly be done that way. I'm going to make you a believer. Then we're going to pour our broth right into the same pot. We're also going to pour our cream in as well, and that's going to make for a nice creamy pasta. Once that whole mixture comes to a boil, we are going to cover our pot, reduce our heat to medium, and let it simmer away. It's really important when you're making one pot pasta to stir it regularly because of course, all of those starches love to stick to the bottom of your pan, and nobody needs more dishes in their life. Am I right? After between 12 and 15 minutes, your pasta will be completely cooked through. You'll have a nice creamy sauce, and that means it is time to finish this off with our shrimp. I've got some shrimp that have already been peeled here, which is, of course, really convenient. I'm going to pop them into the pan, put the lid back on, and cook them until they have turned nice and pink and opaque. That means this stuff is ready to be enjoyed, and let me tell you, your whole family is going to be raging for this Cajun creamy pasta. Next, guys, I've got a really tasty meatless option. It's my spinach and artichoke penne, and it's sort of a take on classic spinach and artichoke dip, so you know it's going to be good. It starts, once again, with a nice big pot over medium-high heat. We're going to heat up some oil. This is the dance I do while I'm waiting for my oil to heat up. That's why I always have music on in the kitchen when you guys aren't with me. Once that oil is nice and hot, in goes some onions and some mushrooms. These are big, beautiful mushrooms, thinly sliced. As with all great cooking, I think it's important to season as you go, so once your mushrooms are in there, you can season them with a little salt and pepper. We're going to let those beauties cook for five to six minutes or until they're nice and soft and have released most of their moisture, and then we are going to add some flavor into this dish. We have some minced garlic, and I'm also going to be adding a nice big helping of artichoke hearts. Once that garlic is fragrant, you're going to add your oregano. I'm using dried here. Fresh, of course, is also an option, and then we are going to add our penne to our pot and our veggie broth. We're simply going to mix all of this together, bring it to a boil, and then we're going to reduce our heat and let it simmer away for 15 minutes or so. We're going to stir it regularly to make sure it does not stick, and about two minutes before it's done cooking, we are going to add our spinach. Now, this may appear to be a lot of spinach, but as we know, spinach likes to wilt down very, very quickly. Lots of spinach is good for everybody, just ask Popeye. I'm going to pop the lid back on, let it wilt for a minute or two, and then for a finishing touch, I'm going to stir in some freshly grated parmesan cheese. I think the fresh parm in this recipe takes it from like an eight directly to a ten, seriously. What an awesome option for Meatless Monday, right? Finally, today we are making a one-pot take on a classic carbonara. Now, I'll be honest, I've received a little bit of pushback on this recipe. Some people take their carbonaras very seriously and did not appreciate the idea of me turning one into a one-pot pasta, but if you were looking for something quick and easy on a weeknight, I've got the recipe for you. It all starts once again with the very same pan. Our heat is on medium-high. To that, we are going to add some pancetta. Now, if you're not familiar with pancetta, it's basically the equivalent of Italian bacon. We're going to cook this until it is nice and crispy and it's released all its fat. Once it's reached maximum crispiness, we are going to remove it from the pan and use all of those beautiful drippings to fry up some garlic. The garlic's going to cook really fast because, of course, it's going to release all of its fat. Almost as soon as it hits the pan, we will add our chicken broth, and then we are going to add our spaghetti. As with all the recipes we've made today, you can really use any type of pasta you want. Once that whole mixture comes to a boil, we are going to cover our pot, reduce our heat to medium, and let it simmer away. In the meantime, I am going to mix up some eggs and some heavy cream. The heavy cream is going to prevent our eggs from scrambling when they hit the heat of that pan, which is always nice, but we're going to end up with still a nice rich sauce for our pasta. Just about two minutes before our pasta is fully cooked through, we are going to pour this mixture into the pan. We are also going to add our lovely pancetta back into our pan. We've got some freshly cracked black pepper. This is not optional. Black pepper is a really important flavor in all of this yummy combination. And we're also going to be adding a whole heaping helping of freshly grated parmesan. And finally, we are going to serve all of this tastiness with loads and loads of freshly chopped parsley, because parsley counts as a vegetable, right? Guys, I hope you will give these really tasty ideas a try. If you do, be sure to tweet me, Instagram me, or Snapchat me a photo, because I love seeing your kitchen creations. Keep in mind, the full recipes are available in the description box below. And if you haven't already, be sure to subscribe, because there is lots more dinner deliciousness where this came from.