Pasta is one of my go-to meals because of his easy it is to boil some packaged spaghetti, fusilli, or whatever pasta I do have in the pantry, and add in my favorite tomato sauce after cooking. But it really stumbled upon me that I could've been doing all this in one pan.
I've seen a lot of one pot pastas online recently but I was always a bit skeptical because it wasn't the traditional way of cooking pasta. Plus, I love al dente pasta so I had that fear of over cooking the noodles if all cooked in one pot.
But nevertheless, I eventually gave it a try--partly due to my hectic schedule and need for quick yet still hearty and satisfying meal.
I'm going to stress out the fact that types pastas have different cooking times so I can't give an exact recipe for this one. Even if using the same pasta shape, it still varies. So spaghetti brands, though the same thickness, will still vary in cooking time.
So since I won't be sharing an exact recipe for this one (I am so sorry to those expecting a recipe), I will explain the steps and how to gauge how much water to put for a certain amount of pasta.
So let's start with the pasta.
I normally use 2 cups of my preferred type of pasta. It can be a bit tricky to gauge how much water/liquid is needed to cook pasta since they don't all cook at the same time. So I usually start with a 1:1 ratio, and adjust halfway depending on how cooked the pasta is after a few minutes, and how much liquid is left. Do take note that tomato sauce especially fresh tomatoes, release a lot of liquid that can also help cook down the pasta.
Next, I add in my preferred vegetables (I used zucchini, tomatoes (fresh and dried), and mushrooms. Also added in the tomato sauce.
Added in fresh basil.
Mix everything well. Added in the water at this point. Set on medium heat for 10-15 minutes. Keep at eye on the pasta after 5-7 minutes as you may need to add more liquid.
I really hope this helped on way or another.