This post falls under the category of: I had no intention of blogging about this but it’s too good not to.
And you’ve got to hear the story of how this all came to be, because that falls under the category of: Life changing.
You see, though Hurricane Ana (or was it Anna?) just missed us, it did come close enough to give us a Sunday full of heavy rains, wind, and a dark sky– very atypical of Hawaii in October. Or Hawaii anytime.
And you might know me well enough by now to imagine that I was completely thrilled. We all were. Luke got out the board games, I made a big pot of hot apple cider, and (don’t be judging,) we blasted Christmas jazz all day long.
Pure bliss.
So, when it was nearing dinner time, I was naturally in the mood to cook up something along the lines of comfort food: Warm and buttery was on my mind. And when I found a “one pot garlic parmesan” pasta on Pinterest, I was curious. Maybe more like suspicious. This recipe talked about cooking your pasta in the same dish as your sauce…I mean, I live for one-pot meals. And I guess I thought everyone knew that…And yet no one had told me…
And then I had to stop and consider the possibility: Have people been COOKING THEIR NOODLES IN THEIR SAUCE for years and years and no one thought to even tell me you can do that!?
I’m trying to believe that this is news to more than just me. I’m trying not to have hurt feelings…
Still believing I’m not the only one, let me tell you how this works:
After cooking some crushed garlic in olive oil for a few minutes, you simply add chicken stock, milk, a little bitta buttah, and….go ahead and toss in the UNCOOKED noodles. Yes! Uncooked! (it’s gonna be ok.)
Stir it all up a bit, toss in some S&P, and bring it to a boil. Then turn down the heat and let those uncooked noodles COOK, soaking in all of the deliciousness of the butter, garlic, chicken stock, and milk. Stir the pot every four or five minutes, and it’s ok if you’re wondering if this could ever possibly work, (because it will!) and about ten minutes through, toss in about two cups of mixed frozen veggies. (You can’t go wrong with kids and frozen veggies.)
Sure enough, about eighteen minutes into this, you’ll find yourself staring into a pot of thick, tender noodles, which fill your home and your heart with the most wonderful aroma (that would be garlic.). Next, add a fourth cup of grated parmesan cheese, and stir in a few more drops of milk to keep it all moist, and then plate that pasta, and top it all with the grilled chicken breast, and a sprinkle more parmesan.
(this was all adapted from Yellow Bliss Road’s recipe.)
And might I say? 10/10
So, that is how we ended up with this memorable dinner on that stormy Sunday night.
We all gathered to say a quick blessing, and then everyone grabbed a plate. Soon there were sounds of slurping, and big and little boy “Mmm”‘s all over the place.
And that is when I jumped up, in true blogger form, and yelled, “WAIT! STOP EVERYTHING!” The family all looked at me like the crazy woman that I am, and I continued “Hurry! Get the camera!”
(Thankfully, they’re used to me by now.) This was just too good not to tell you lovely people about…
That is, assuming you don’t already know…
And there ends the story of how I ended up blogging about the meal that I did not intend to blog about.
And now, for the sake of my pride: Please do not tell me that you’ve been making this pasta for like, years and years.
Love you forever,
Monica
**Pin and Share using buttons below. Enlightenment is meant to be shared! 🙂
PS: You CAN, however, tell me that this recipe just changed your life. Or that you love pasta, or garlic, or stormy days, or just about anything nice.
And print this:
One Pot Garlic Parmesan Pasta w/ Grilled Chicken
Ingredients
- 1-2 Tablespoons olive oil
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 2 cups chicken stock
- 1 cup milk a little more as needed
- 2 T. unsalted butter
- 8 ounces uncooked spaghetti or fettucine noodles
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
- 1-2 cups frozen mixed veggies
- Optional grilled chicken breast, seasoned and cut into bite-size pieces
Instructions
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Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat.
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Add garlic and cook, stirring frequently for 1-2 minutes
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Stir in chicken stock, milk, butter, frozen vegetables, and noodles: Season with salt and pepper.
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Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until pasta is cooked through, about 15-20 minutes
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Stir in Parmesan cheese, and add milk, 1 tablespoon at a time if mixture needs more moisture.
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Top with grilled chicken, and garnish with more parmesan, and parsley if desired.
Hi Monica,
I have never heard/thought of cooking pasta with the sauce, so new for me too. The recipe sounds delicious and will give it a go soon.
This was absolutely delicious! My husband is usually the cook in our family but I made this tonight to raves .
Omg I made this tonight it was delicious 😋 Thanks so much I will be making this again and again
haha– Thank you Kathy! I’m so glad to hear that! 🙂 XOXO
This technique for one-pot Alfredo is perfect! So excited to make one pot pasta! This recipe though is just BAD. If you’re basic and only need garlic flavor, well I guess that’s you, but this was bland and bad, and I needed to double the butter too.
Trust your gut when making pasta and NOT this recipe. Whatever you normally do to pasta (I usually do onion, white wine, lemon, and red pepper flakes and garlic), do that. Not this.
I ended up having to doctor at the end with gratuitous amounts of garlic powder, onion powder, and red pepper flakes, and it was still flat.
That said, I’m glad I learned the technique of one pot pasta with frozen veggies, this will make life so much simpler.
Thank you for giving the recipe a try and sorry it wasn’t good in your opinion…Glad you discovered the one-pot method and I always recommend doctoring things up according to taste. Much aloha- 🙂
Do you think this recipe would work out okay if doubled? Feeding large family tonight and have everything I need to make this. I had no idea you could make pasta this way, although I have seen my mother-in-law put one cup of elbow noodles in a pot, and add one can of diced tomatoes, sauce and all, and cook it together. She swears by it, but I was leary. I may try her thing out too! lol
Hi Natalie–Sorry if I’m a little too late to help you, but I would always guess YES on doubling. 🙂 I almost always double recipes too! Your mother-in-law’s recipe sounds interesting too, it’s always worth a shot! Thanks for checking in and I’d love to hear how your meal turned out! 🙂 Aloha-
It was amazing! Doubling worked great! The kids who are usually quite picky loved it.. Will definitely be making this again and again!
I never did one-pot pasta until your recipe tonight and I am 65 YO. Ityour recipe is delicious. I had leftover grilled chicken that I sliced and added along with a tiny squeeze of lemon. Just fabulous!thank you!
Thank you Lorraine! Isn’t that funny, I hadn’t tried it for most of my life either–It just seemed too easy to be true!:) Glad you enjoyed it and thanks for taking the time to tell me! aloha-
I didn’t know! I can’t wait to try it!! Looks delicious:)
Thanks for sharing
I made this again- always a hit!- but used an ancient grains penne. I wanted to let you know it works with whole grain pasta,too. Just a bit mushy. I think we will stick to regular spaghetti. Thanks for the great recipes.
Great to know! Thank you Shannon. I still need to try to make it with Gluten Free pasta for my GF friends! 😉 Aloha to you and always love hearing from you! XO
Do you think asiago cheese will work instead of Parmesan?
Mmmm–I love asiago! I would give it a try…can’t imagine it wouldn’t be great! 🙂 (let me know how it turns out if you try!) Aloha
when do the vegetables get added?
Hannah–Thank you so much for asking! I hadn’t realized I had left that out! 🙂 (I just edited the recipe.) I just put the veggies in at the same time as the stock, noodles, milk, etc. Everything comes to a boil together. If you were to add veggies that are not frozen, I would wait until you turn down heat to a simmer. Much aloha–and hope it turns out great! 😉
A) Hawaii was very windy, raining and Dark on January 27, 2013. I know this because I was trying to drive back up to the north shore from the ProBowl in Honolulu and on edge enough as it was and than my phone was constantly alarm with weather alerts about the flash flood warnings, and the high surf warnings and the high wind advisories.
B) This recipe looks super amazing, and that I might be able to make it Weight Watcher friendly.
A) I forgot how crazy stormy is was while you were here Sandy!
B) I do hope you can try it, and let me know how it goes w/ any adjustments. So far I have one person reporting to me a gluten-free version, and now a potential Weight-Watchers version. Perfect! 🙂 Proud of you my friend!
I’m gonna try this pasta dish tonight~ hope it works! I have a friend who is a single mom to 3 boys in Oahu, and I just gave her the link to your blog. I think it would be perfect for her to enjoy, and who knows if you’ll end up meeting her some time! (her name is Jennifer Erb)
Thanks for your posts, I used to live on the big island and we have such a place in our heart for Hawaii life, living here in the Palm Springs desert!
Hope the pasta turned out great! And thanks for passing on my site to your Oahu friend! 🙂 PS is pretty awesome too though! xo
Dear Monica,
This may seem so strange as I saw Rachael on cooking in 30-minutes on telly just this week doing exactly that, using uncooked pasta. I watched in total disbelief but eventually Voila’ she had a lovely pot of cooked pasta! It’s been raining cats & dogs every evening and its so scary outside. So cooking a one-pot meal sounds like just the meal for us too. Thanks for the wonderful meal idea reminder. Rachael Ray sez her Mum used to cook that way too. Funny we never knew it could be done that way! duh! Eh! Have fun with your family Monica as they sound like a lovely bunch. Love Jenny
Thank you Jenny! So funny–I guess Rachel is copying me again, haha..! But really, I have always made lasagna with hard noodles (my mom does it that way) and it turns out just fine…I don’t know where this whole “must boil pasta” conspiracy started, but I am so glad to find out we can save some time now! 🙂 I hope it is the perfect meal for a rainy, cozy night!! Much aloha!!
I made this tonight for my family and they LOVED it!!!!!! What a great recipe!! Thanks for sharing it with us. I will be sure to pass along this little gem to all my friends and family. 🙂
This makes me wish I had grilled chicken hanging around somewhere so I could make this RIGHT NOW. I wonder if it would work as well with gluten-free pasta; prolly, maybe a slightly longer cook time? Anyway, it makes me drool. And no, I have never cooked my pasta in the sauce either. Coming soon to my kitchen….. :p Thanks for sharing!!!
I am wondering the same about GF pasta! Plz let me know how it goes if you try it! ;). I’m sure it’s good w/ out the chicken, but worked well as main course with it. Much Aloha!
You’re not alone because I’ve never made one pot pasta before either! It looks delicious and I’m all about minimal pan usage. Thanks for sharing!
Woohoo! This is on tap for dinner tonight. I have not ever cooked noodles like this and am excited to try it and especially that the recipe is a one-pot dinner. 🙂 I have to tell you that I LOVE the fact your recipes serve 6. It saves my way too busy/overloaded brain from having to 1 1/2 everything for my family of 5 (which includes two tween boys …).
This recipe looks delish! I have been making a recipe for a couple of years called “One Pot Wonder” that is very similar to this recipe. I use vegetable broth instead of chicken broth and toss in a handful of shrimp (if I have any) at the very end. It calls for Italian diced tomatoes and I add onions and mushrooms instead of frozen vegetables- which your boys may not like. It’s easy and so delicious and you can find the recipe online.
I will try your recipe, any ideas if rice drink would work instead of the milk?
Mahalo !
Thank you Pat! Your shrimp dish sounds awesome as well. 🙂
I would think if you normally use rice drink in cooking, you would be fine…I haven’t cooked with it before–but the milk just adds the creamy texture, and if rice drink cooks up well, you’re probably just fine! Much aloha!
There’s an amazing Mediterranean pasta like this that cooks in the tomato juice! I too was amazed and a little freaked out throwing hard noodles in a pot with all the goodies 😉
Mmmm, I love Mediterranean—I’ll have to hunt that recipe down next. 😉 Thanks and Aloha! 🙂
Genius, I tell you! I am up for anything that saves time and is kid friendly. It’s on the plan for next week. The only time I’ve used uncooked noodles is in crock-pot lasagna. My family loved it but I thought it was ‘meh’. This sound much tastier.
Great Shannon! I hope you all love it. 🙂 I would also try just about anything in a crock pot–Love the idea of being gone all day and coming home to a cooked dinner…But yes, this one is a winner, for sure! xo