Remember when I discovered one pot pasta (I know…way late to the game), became obsessed, and said I was going to experiment with a billion different one pot pasta recipes?
Hiiiii.
This is that. And this is wonderful. I, once again, am very much in love with one pot pasta. It’s just so easy! I know all the legit Italians out there are rolling their eyes so hard at me, and the Italian grandmothers are rolling over in their graves, because – yes – this is far from the technically correct way to cook pasta. No arguments there.
Buuuuutttt I care way less about technique and way more about easy and delicious food. Enter: one pot pasta. Throw everything together, let the pasta cook, throw in your add ins, and BAM. Almost no dishes to clean and a delicious meal on your table. Sorry, legit cooking techniques, I will save you for the real chefs and stick with my weeknight cheats.
If this bothers you, I’m sorry – go check out some of my other more technically correct recipes. If it doesn’t bother you, hi! Stick around and let’s talk about the awesomeness of this tasty one pot meal 😍!
This one pot pasta is even easier than the last one that I posted recently, which kicked off my obsession with this new type of cooking. Here are your absurdly simple steps to make this delicious one pot dinner:
- Add leeks, pasta, and stock to a large pot.
- Bring to boil. Boil for 15 minutes.
- In the last few minutes, add asparagus and peas.
- When done cooking, add cheese and milk. Stir to fully combine. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Done! Like…what. This dinner is easier than binge watching Netflix on your couch. Well, maybe not quite that easy, but close. The only slightly tedious part of making one pot pasta is the stirring. You can’t really go kick back with a good book for the fifteen minutes that your pasta is cooking. You have to babysit it a little, especially towards the end. Stirring your pasta often makes sure that it cooks evenly and (more importantly) that it doesn’t stick to the bottom of your pot. A teensy bit of this is unavoidable, but you can eliminate it for the most part by stirring often.
The good news is that you only have to babysit for 15 minutes, since that’s all the time it takes to cook the pasta! Such a win.
Guess what I got today?? Three tiny, baby, adorable little kale plants. They are probably the cutest things I’ve ever seen. I want to dip my toe into the world of gardening this year, so I’m starting small with container gardens rather than the full out deal. One of my dreams in life is to be an EPIC gardener and have tons of fresh veggies in my garden and fridge at all times.
My principal and I were briefly talking about his garden yesterday and how I was going to start container gardening this year, and he brought me three little baby kale plants today as “starters.” And now I’m going to tell you something that you are not allowed to judge me for. I cried when I saw them. And then cried one more time later. Because they are so tiny and cute. They look exactly like a full out kale plant but just little miniatures! I was picturing them looking like sprouts, not real kale yet.
But HEY – unless you have carried a baby in your body for 7 months and experienced the intense surge of crazy hormones that come with that experience, you cannot judge me for crying over a tiny kale plant, danget! Tiny, cute, and small things for some reason trigger a strange emotional reaction in me. They just make me so happy!
Anyway, today after work, a friend of mine is heading over to help me plant them. My gardening knowledge is shockingly little…meaning I know literally nothing…so yes, I need help even planting three little kale starters in a container. Mark my words – some day I will be a master gardener! #goals.
Until then, I’ll just keep using frozen peas and store bought asparagus for yummy spring recipes like this one 😃.
PrintCreamy One Pot Spring Vegetable Fettuccine
This super simple one pot meal takes no time to make and utilizes some delicious spring vegetables! It’s the perfect weeknight meal.
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 15 mins
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 8 servings 1x
Ingredients
- 1 leek, (not the dark green ends) cut in half long ways, washed, and thinly sliced into half moons
- 1 pound box fettuccine
- 32 oz box stock, chicken or veggie works
- 1 cup water
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 bunch asparagus, fibrous ends removed, chopped into 1–2 inch pieces
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
Instructions
- Add your sliced leeks, fettuccine, chicken stock, water, and olive oil to a large pot. Season with salt and pepper.
- Bring to a boil. As it boils, you will be able to carefully bend/push the noodles down into the pot so the dry ends are no longer sticking out of the stock.
- Gently boil the pasta for 15 minutes, stirring often so the pasta doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pot.
- When there are three minutes remaining, stir in your asparagus.
- When there is 1 minute remaining, stir in your peas.
- Remove from the heat when the fifteen minutes are up and add in your milk and parmesan cheese. Stir thoroughly until the cheese is melted and everything is well combined. Add extra milk if it looks too dry. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Notes
If you reheat any leftovers the next day, you will need to add more milk to re-saturate the pasta a bit.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cup of pasta
- Calories: 351
- Sugar: 6 g
- Sodium: 241 mg
- Fat: 11 g
- Carbohydrates: 49 g
- Fiber: 4 g
- Protein: 19 g
- Cholesterol: 14 mg
If you make this or any of my other recipes, be sure to Instagram it and hashtag #thegarlicdiaries!
In the mood for more yummy one pot meals? Check these out:
One Pot Philly Cheesesteak Pasta
30 Minute One Pot Barbecue Chicken Quinoa Skillet
When do you add the cup of water?
Whoops! I didn’t even notice I didn’t include that in the instructions. I fixed the recipe – you add the water when you add the chicken stock. Thanks for pointing that out!
Thanks! I am making this for dinner tomorrow night. Sounds delicious!
Love one pot meals and this one looks absolutely fab! Spring veggies are everything! Good luck with your kale plants.. they are pretty simple to grow, so you won’t have to worry too much! Just keep them watered and when it gets hot out, give ’em some shade… that will keep them from getting bitter in the heat. I could talk about gardening ALL DAY LONG. Haha I love it!
Keri @ Fashionable Foods recently posted…Everything Popcorn
Thanks, Keri! That’s great advice – I will file it away in my brain for my little kale plants :). I am super interested in gardening, but I literally know NOTHING about it and feel like I’m going to kill all my plants haha. I need advice from people like you!