Tomato One-Pot Pasta

One of the biggest challenges I've found with working a full-time job that gets done at 5:00 everyday is making dinner.  It used to be no big deal if I was making a recipe that took half an hour to prep and then 45 minutes to cook, I would just start around 4:30 or so.  If I do that now, we're not eating dinner until 7:30 and considering that I'm usually starving by the time I get home at 6:00, that just doesn't fly.

One of the obvious solutions is to just pick recipes for weeknights that are really quick to make (I'm open to any suggestions if you have any.)  I've seen a number of one-pot pasta recipes on pinterest and different blogs so I decided to give it a try since it sounds pretty easy.  And boy was it easy.  It took me maybe 10 minutes to cut up my onion, garlic and cherry tomatoes and then I just threw everything in a pot (including the uncooked noodles) and stirred.  About 30 minutes after getting home from work, voila dinner is served.  It's almost like magic.  Almost.

I was a little worried that this pasta wasn't going to have very much flavor, but it definitely does courtesy of the red pepper flakes.  As it cooks at the water evaporates the tomatoes break down a little bit, the flavors all blend together and what remains at the end is a sauce coating the noodles that for sure is not bland.

Ingredients:

• 12 ounces whole wheat linguine
• 12 ounces cherry tomatoes, halved or quartered
• 1 onion, thinly sliced
• 4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 2 sprigs basil (plus more for garnish if you wish)
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 teaspoons coarse salt (plus more for seasoning to taste)
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper (plus more for seasoning to taste)
• 4 1/2 cups water
• Grated parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. In a large, straight sided skillet, combine pasta, tomatoes, onion, garlic, red pepper flakes, basil, oil, salt, pepper and water.
2. Over high heat, bring to a boil.  Continue to let boil, frequently turning and stirring pasta, until pasta is al dente and water is nearly evaporated. (Around 10 minutes or so)
3. Split between 4 bowls, season with salt and pepper to taste.  Garnish with torn basil, grated parmesan and additional oil if you please.

Recipe from Martha Stewart.