Vivian Hyatt of Bel Air was looking for a recipe for spaghetti and sauce that is made in just one pot. She said that when she was in junior high school in the late 1960s, this was one of the dishes students learned how to prepare in her home economics class. Sadly, her mother disposed of all those recipes years ago, and this is one Hyatt wishes she still had because it was so easy and delicious.
After a little research, I found a recipe for a one-pot spaghetti dish on the website Kitchen Nostalgia (kitchennostagia.com) that I thought was probably much like the dish Hyatt recalls so fondly. This recipe for a homemade pasta dish can easily be made in less then 30 minutes. The dish is made without jarred pasta sauce and, as written, is suitable for vegetarians or vegans. If you have meat lovers in the house, it’s easy enough to add ground beef, turkey, sausage or even bacon while the onions are cooking.
Aside from the ease of this cooking method, another advantage of the dish is that the starch released from the pasta as it cooks thickens the sauce without the addition of cream or butter. The final consistency can be controlled with the amount of broth added. You can serve it like a soup or make it thick and spaghetti-like.
What could be better than a hearty, versatile one-pot dish that is both good and good for you and ready in less then half an hour? This one beats takeout pizza any day of the week.
One-Pot Spaghetti
Makes 4 to 6 servings
6 to 8 Tbsp. olive oil
2 medium chopped onions
2 medium chopped carrots
4 garlic cloves, minced
3 cups canned chopped tomatoes with liquid
2 Tbsp. tomato puree
1 to 2 Tbsp. sugar
Parsley, basil, oregano, thyme, allspice, to taste
About 6 cups vegetable (or chicken) broth
12 oz. spaghetti
Salt and pepper, to taste
In a pot, heat the oil and saute the onions until translucent. Add carrots and garlic and saute for 1 more minute. Add chopped tomatoes, tomato puree, sugar, spices and about 4 cups of the broth. Bring to a boil and cook for about 15 minutes.
Add uncooked spaghetti to the pot and simmer until the pasta is tender, about 15 minutes. Stir from time to time and add more broth while cooking to achieve desired consistency.
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