Martha Stewart's One-Pan Pasta

Glad I tried this method, as I was curious. Appreciate the recipe! Bottom line: having fewer pans to clean was nice, and I loved not having to wash a colander -- a fabulous advantage in some situations, such as right after a long day -- but I didn't care for the resulting starchiness of the pasta despite my best effort. I probably won't make it again. Personal taste. I suggest: (1) Use a large pan of the type illustrated, not a pot. This recipe relies on evaporation and some reduction. (2) Use enough liquid to cover, plus a bit, rather than slavishly following the quantity listed. (3) For better flavor, use broth, beer, etc. rather than plain water; adapt and crank up seasonings to your taste; and throw in a few more lipids, e.g. some butter at the end. (4) Monitor carefully, perhaps using a spatula to keep pasta off the bottom and definitely tongs once the linguini is nearly cooked -- but to avoid stickiness, do NOT overmanipulate. There's a reason we don't stir pasta while it boils conventionally, right? The same physics and chemistry apply here, but are harder to placate in this shallow-pan setup.

PS: Heavens, no, dear fellow reviewers, what makes anyone imagine that gluten-free pasta would be a natural choice for this recipe? Gluten is what holds together traditional pasta and gives it a wee bit of stretch. I predict a soggy mess with GF product, but if someone has advice on technique, do share. Also, in terms of pasta shape, I suspect linguini is called for here because it has the best chance of laying flat under the liquid and other ingredients, so that it may boil properly. Finally, rather than following the recipe's suggested cooking time to a tee and then being disappointed, it may help to pay attention to the pasta itself and recognize it may take a bit longer than the time range on the box, because here we are not boiling in copious water, but a broth with veggies.

PPS: Note that the recipe does not call for an entire pound (16 oz) of linguini, which most boxes contain, but 12 ounces. That corresponds to the amount of fresh cherry tomatoes called for.

Glad I tried this method, as I was curious. Appreciate the recipe! Bottom line: having fewer pans to clean was nice, and I loved not having to wash a colander -- a fabulous advantage in some situations, such as right after a long day -- but I didn't care for the resulting starchiness of the pasta despite my best effort. I probably won't make it again. Personal taste. I suggest: (1) Use a large pan of the type illustrated, not a pot. This recipe relies on evaporation and some reduction. (2) Use enough liquid to cover, plus a bit, rather than slavishly following the quantity listed. (3) For better flavor, use broth, beer, etc. rather than plain water; adapt and crank up seasonings to your taste; and throw in a few more lipids, e.g. some butter at the end. (4) Monitor carefully, perhaps using a spatula to keep pasta off the bottom and definitely tongs once the linguini is nearly cooked -- but to avoid stickiness, do NOT overmanipulate. There's a reason we don't stir pasta while it boils conventionally, right? The same physics and chemistry apply here, but are harder to placate in this shallow-pan setup.

PS: Heavens, no, dear fellow reviewers, what makes anyone imagine that gluten-free pasta would be a natural choice for this recipe? Gluten is what holds together traditional pasta and gives it a wee bit of stretch. I predict a soggy mess with GF product, but if someone has advice on technique, do share. Also, in terms of pasta shape, I suspect linguini is called for here because it has the best chance of laying flat under the liquid and other ingredients, so that it may boil properly. Finally, rather than following the recipe's suggested cooking time to a tee and then being disappointed, it may help to pay attention to the pasta itself and recognize it may take a bit longer than the time range on the box, because here we are not boiling in copious water, but a broth with veggies.

I'm reviewing this for a second time because this past weekend, I cooked this recipe over a campfire in a Lodge Cook-It-All cast iron pot. As when I cooked it at home, it came out wonderfully. I chopped the onion and garlic and put it in a ziplock bag before we left for camping. It was so easy to throw together once we had the fire going. I'm always stunned by the negative comments. Yes, I did have to cook it a tad longer than expected, but you pull a piece of pasta out, check it, and adjust accordingly. This recipe is a camper's best friend!

I won’t make this again. In order to achieve any taste I had to drain and reduce and fiddle and taste and fuss endlessly.. too much water for starters. The old way is faster and more foolproof. I do love the lemon pasta for one and think that using larger quanties of ingredients makes for a muted, overcooked dish.

I understand the mix of positive and negative reviews here as this is one that either really works or really doesn't, and the factors that make it work or not can be a bit imprecise (you have to have exactly the right amount of all the ingredients and sometimes it's hard to tell--I'm blessed with a local supermarket that sells tomatoes in labelled 6oz packages lol) but this recipe will always have a special place in my heart because it's what I make when I have no energy but want to get back to Real Food. The colors and the scents of the fresh ingredients make me happy and the simple flavors are comforting, and I think pasta helps your brain produce serotonin or something? All I know is I make this and I feel better, and I hope other people do too.

As it supplies high quality ambient Vegetables. Sliced, diced, puree or paste, Vegetables in aseptic bags are a great alternative of using the raw Vegetables.
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Products produced in aseptic bags, cans or pouch:
Onion, garlic, cucumber, pumpkin, butternut squash, olive, avocado, pineapple, pear, plum, strawberry, ginger, corn, peas, tomato.

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Eating this now and loving it--great way to use up CSA cherry tomatoes. I think maybe the recipe calls for too much water--it had not evaporated by the time the pasta was cooked. Perhaps this accounts for reviewers saying it turned out mushy? Next time I will try starting with 4 cups water instead of 4.5 and go from there.

This is so bland... the only thing that adds flavor is the grated cheese at the end. Boiling onions and garlic takes all the taste from them. Quick, easy, not worth it.

I tried it and it’s bit one note and bland. I sautéed red miso and vegan butter, then added the rest of the ingredients. It was Luscious and rich and didn’t need any Parmesan. This recipe lends itself to variation.

I have made this several times now. My family and I love it for the fresh taste and I especially love how quick it is to make! I don’t understand any of the negative comments. Why is everyone a critic?

Seems great, but I am not a fan of overly starchy things...for me, (and my taste only, no need to get upset) pre-cook the pasta to just before al dente and then let it finish in the pan (without all that water added of course.)

Do not try this recipe with gluten free noodles. It turns to mush.

This was such a quick and easy pasta! I used half chicken broth to add flavor. Amazing how this all came together.

I just tried it & I like it. Easy, delicious and efficient. Thank you for this recipe

I'm thinking this would work just as well with gluten free pasta, has anybody tried it?

I tried this again because I was in a hurry, and this time I pulsed the tomatoes in the processor a couple of times. Also added a small can of tomato sauce, and it was much better. The linguini was a little mushy as one reviewer said, but not too bad. It lends itself to a lot of variations, and is easy to throw together, so I'll probably do it again. Maybe with macaroni instead of linguini next time, easier to pick up.

Lovely recipe which allows lots of ways to personalise and make it your own. I took the advice of others and sauteed my onions and garlic first. I also added some tomato paste before adding my pasta as well as chili flakes. I ended up using all of the water and a bit more but I guess that depends on the make of pasta. It took a bit longer to cook but again that is to taste and the pasta itself. All in all a great recipe and a quick midweek meal.

While I liked the simplicity of the dish, I found the end result gummy and most likely won’t make it again.

I've made this recipe and various renditions of it many times. It's excellent and so so easy. A very tasty, simple meal to prepare that definitely has great texture and flavor. Big fan!

I made this dish and liked the spice I also added sliced Kalamata and Spanish olives with pimiento as I prefer not to eat cheese and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was creamy and delicious, so much so that I made it again for company tonight and they said they’d make it.