Martha Stewart's One Pan Pasta, for Two

The recipe I am sharing with you today is one that I adapted from one I found on Food 52 for Martha Stewart's One Pan Pasta. I just adore pasta myself, whereas my husband does not. (I know!) In any case I downsized it so that it feeds only two people.

I found myself with rather a large quantity of cherry tomatoes that I wanted to use up and I love using fresh basil in recipes when I have it, so this recipe was perfect.
Martha Stewart's One Pan Pasta

One thing which I really loved about it was that everything cooks in one pan, even the pasta (linguini) . . . you just add the dry pasta and other ingredients, including water, and it cooks all-together in the pan.
Martha Stewart's One Pan Pasta

No fuss, no muss . . . no faffing about with having to drain this or that . . . the water, tomatoes, etc. condense along with the starch from the cooking pasta to create a delicious sauce.
Martha Stewart's One Pan Pasta

You don't even need to use boiling water. Just add it to the pan cold and let it come to the boil.
Martha Stewart's One Pan Pasta

You do need to pay attention to it while it cooks however . . . to keep moving the pasta around so it doesn't stick to either the pan or well, together. (Anyone who has ever had long stranded pasta stick together in a large clump while cooking knows what I am talking about.)
Martha Stewart's One Pan Pasta

You end up with an uncooked clump of stuck together pasta in the middle and cooked ends. In any case, if you keep your pasta moving, this won't happen. So do pay attention.
Martha Stewart's One Pan Pasta

This is especially important as there is such a small amount of water used.
Martha Stewart's One Pan Pasta

I had several kinds of cherry tomatoes . . . red and yellow . . . both incredibly sweet and ripe and delicious.
Martha Stewart's One Pan Pasta

They went so well in this simple sauce, some of them broke down completely and others not so completely, but altogether most delicious.
Martha Stewart's One Pan Pasta

There is a bit of heat in the sauce from the use of hot pepper flakes. Do adjust the amount required as per your own tastes . . . leave them out if you are not fond of too much heat at all.
Martha Stewart's One Pan Pasta

I kept the amount of basil sprigs the same and that was the right thing to do . . . had I not done so, the flavor might have been lost all together. I adore the peppery taste of fresh basil, don't you?
Martha Stewart's One Pan Pasta

The sauce is completed with thinly sliced onion and garlic, plenty of both . . .
Martha Stewart's One Pan Pasta

This was really, really, REALLY nice! Not too spicy, not too mild . . . just right.
Martha Stewart's One Pan Pasta

I thought the sauce beautiful, and I am not usually overly fond of tomato skins in my sauces . . . but in this they work. Providing a bit of texture and color.

This was thoroughly enjoyed by myself . . . in face I dare say I might have even made a bit of a pig of myself.

Martha Stewart's One Pan Pasta

Yield: Serves 2
Author: Marie Raynerprep time: 10 Mcook time: 20 Mtotal time: 30 MThe original recipe was for four people. I have downsized it for two people. The pasta cooks completely in one pan, creating its own delicious sauce. You can be enjoying this from start to finish in less then 15 minutes.

Ingredients:

170g linquine pasta (6 ounces)
170g cherry tomatoes, halved (6 ounces)
1 small onion, peeled and cut into thin half moons
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
2 sprigs fresh basil, plus torn leaves to garnish
1 TBS extra virgin olive oil
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
520ml water (2 1/4 cups)
Freshly grated parmesan cheese to serve

Instructions:

Put the pasta, tomatoes, onion, garlic, red pepper flakes, basil sprigs, olive oil, 1 tsp salt and a pinch of pepper into a very large deep skillet with straight sides. The pasta must be able to lay flat in the pan.
Add the water and then bring to the boil over high heat. Continue to boil, lifting and turning the pasta with a fork or a pair of tongs to prevent it from sticking together or to the bottom of the pan, and making sure it stays pretty much submerged in the liquid. You may need to add a bit more boiling water. Cook for approximately 9 minutes in this way until the pasta has cooked al dente and the liquid has almost evaporated.
Season to taste with salt and black pepper. Divide between two pasta bowls and garnish with torn basil leaves. Serve with some extra olive oil and freshly grated Parmesan cheese.