Simple Stay-home Recipes: Hassle-Free One-Pan Pasta

As we get used to our work from home schedules, have you ever experienced cases when your Zoom meetings get extended beyond lunch or dinner? To make things worst, while trying to wrap up your work for the day, you have two crying kids getting out of control, running around the house yelling for food? 

Sure, you can feed them with the various sweet and savoury snacks purchased from Shopee or a hasty meal of instant noodles. Nonetheless, with the need to ensure that your family members are getting their daily dose of nutrition, won’t it be good to whip up a satisfying meal in a matter of minutes? 

With that being said, let us help ease your anxiety in the kitchen with today’s Hassle-free One-Pan Pasta recipe. All you need is just half an hour of your time and you’ll have a flavourful meal on your dining table, waiting to be devoured!

Ingredients

• 2 cups of fusilli
• 2-3 sausages 
• 1/2 cup onions (diced)
• 2 tsp of garlic (minced)
• 1-2 cups of vegetables 
• 2 cups of tomato sauce
• 2 cups of water or stock of choice 
• 4 tbsp of olive oil
• Salt and pepper (as desired)
• Cheese (optional)

Tools

• Knife
• Chopping board
• Deep pan or pot

Recipe Preparation

Preparation time: 5 minutes; Cooking time: 25 – 30 minutes
Feeds two

• Prepare your ingredients accordingly and put all the dry ingredients in a deep pan or pot.
• Pour your wet ingredients over and mix everything properly till well-combined.
• Cover and bring the mixture to a boil, stirring every now and then to ensure that nothing gets stuck at the bottom.
• Keep the pasta boiling at low-medium heat till liquid is reduced and fusilli soften.
• (Optional) When then pasta sauce thickens, add cheese and give the pasta one final mix before serving.

Recipe (In Pictures)

Step 1: Prepare all your ingredients accordingly and put all the dry ingredients in a deep pan or pot.

Step 2: Pour your wet ingredients over and mix everything properly till well-combined.

Step 3: Cover and bring the mixture to a boil, stirring every now and then to ensure that nothing gets stuck at the bottom.

Step 4: Keep the pasta boiling at low-medium heat till liquid is reduced and fusilli soften.

Step 5 (Optional): When then pasta sauce thickens, add cheese and give the pasta one final mix before serving.

This Hassle-free One-Pan Pasta has got to be the easiest pasta dish you will ever make in your culinary endeavour at home. With merely just two steps—cut and cook—this is a recipe you will want to keep in your pocket for rainy days when you are pressed for time.

The best part of this recipe is that it is so versatile you can replace any element according to your preference. For me, I used a cupful of leftover broccoli, mushroom and frozen mixed vegetables which have been sitting in my fridge for a couple of days. If you just did your grocery run and have a handful of fresh spinach or zucchini lying around, they would also make a great accompaniment to the slightly acidic tomato-based pasta. 

Aside from fusilli, feel free to switch up your carbohydrates to spaghetti, linguine, penne or even macaroni! The reason why I love using fusilli in this particular recipe is that the grooves in the pasta were able to trap the rich and savoury sauce. As such, each mouthful was bursting with the tanginess and fresh flavours of tomatoes.

Lastly, although the addition of cheese is optional, I would highly recommend you to include them in your Hassle-free One-Pan Pasta if you are one who enjoys creamy and full-bodied flavours in your dish. Choose to add the cheese while the pasta is still in the pan to incorporate the richness into the entire dish or just as a topping before it is served. Either way are terrific if you are looking for that cheese-pull while savouring your pasta!

Expected Damage: S$3 – S$4 per portion