An easy and delicious vegetarian one pot pasta dish.
Cook everything together for a quick, fuss-free meal and very little washing up!
Pinterest is a great way to lose a few hours. I find myself browsing pins for things I’m not even interested in, like bathroom decor and wedding decorations. Although as you might expect, mostly I look at recipes.
All in one pot
Recently, I found myself browsing ‘one pot’ pasta dishes.
The general idea is that you make a liquidy sauce, then chuck in the pasta and possibly some vegetables. Everything cooks in the sauce, in the same pot, hence ‘one pot’. What could be easier?
Easy dinners
On any given school night, easy is definitely the right adjective to describe our dinner, so I decided to give the one pot pasta method a go.
Since I’m new to the technique and wanted to maximise the chances of success, I used some star-shaped Israeli giant couscous (ptitim), as they cook quickly and in a known volume of liquid. I’m sure you could use orzo, stellini, or any other small pasta shapes in this recipe for a very similar end result.
Ingredients for one pot pasta with mushrooms and spinach
To make this delicious and easy dinner for your family, you will need the following ingredients:
- Mushrooms – ideally a mixture of different types such as button, chestnut, oyster, shiitake etc.
- Onions – they make everything tasty
- Fresh spinach leaves
- Olive oil
- Giant couscous (aka ptitim) or similar small pasta shapes such as orzo
- Milk or a plant-based alternative
- Vegetable stock
- Salt & pepper to season
- Grated parmesan or other cheese to sprinkle over the top – optional
You probably have most of those things in your kitchen right now!
One pot pasta – Great results!
The sauce was thick and creamy and extremely tasty, and the giant couscous were just cooked through without being mushy. Perfect! As promised, the washing up was minimal!
I’ll certainly be trying this one pot pasta technique again. Now that I’ve got the basics, perhaps next time I’ll be brave enough to try with ‘big’ pasta shapes, or even spaghetti. I bet you could even finish this off in the oven to create a sort of baked-risotto/pasta-bake hybrid.
If you aren’t concerned about dairy, some grated cheese on top is a yummy addition. Serves 3-4.
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📖 Recipe
Gooey wild mushroom and spinach one pot pasta
Ingredients
- 2 medium onions
- 300 g mixed mushrooms – white, chestnut, oyster, shiitake etc.
- 3 tablespoon olive oil
- 100 ml milk or plant-based alternative
- 100 ml vegetable stock
- 150 g giant couscous or similar small pasta such as orzo
- 200 g fresh spinach
- Salt & pepper
- Grated parmesan or similar hard cheese to serve (optional)
Instructions
- Peel the onions and slice finely. Brush any dirt from the mushrooms and slice.
- Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy-based pan. Add the onions and cook over a medium heat for around 5 minutes until soft and starting to brown.
- Add the mushrooms and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, for another 4-5 minutes.
- Pour in the milk and stock and bring to a simmer. Add the giant couscous/orzo, stir well, cover and simmer over a very low heat for 8-10 minutes until the pasta is just cooked and most of the liquid is absorbed.
- Place the spinach on top of the pasta mixture, cover and allow to wilt for 1-2 minutes. Stir the spinach in.
- If the mixture looks slightly dry, moisten with a little extra milk or stock to achieve your desired level of sauciness. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and serve with the grated parmesan.
Nutrition
More delicious one pot dinner recipes
Other easy one-pot dinners include wild mushroom baked risotto, roasted vegetable rice pilaf, squash and mushroom cobbler, and aubergine shakshuka.
I’ve linked up with Credit Crunch Munch, hosted by Elizabeth’s Kitchen Diary and organised by Fuss Free Flavours and Fab Food 4 All.
Elana Fligg
Hi Helen, On Sunday I showed your gooey mushroom and spinach one-pot pasta recipe to my husband. I got home from work yesterday evening to find him cooking it! It was delicious, so thank you for adding a new favourite to our menu. xx
Helen
Thanks Elana – so happy to hear this! Well done to your husband for taking the hint 😀
Stephanie Jane
I’ve not yet got the hang of Pinterest – perhaps that’s a good thing as I’d never have time to cook!
This recipe will be perfect for us on our caravan adventure. I’m all for one-pot cooking in such a small kitchen 😉 We’re in France at the moment and could buy mixed packs of ‘adventurous’ mushrooms to try so I’ll bookmark for next week’s shopping list. Thanks for sharing your recipe!
Stephanie Jane
Helen
Thanks Stephanie. I hope it works out in your tiny kitchen! French supermarkets are such fun – I love the idea of ‘adventurous’ mushrooms 🙂
Elizabeth
Oh yum! This is my sort of comfort food recipe for sure! Thank you for sharing with the Credit Crunch Munch 🙂
munchiesandmunchkins
I love one pot dishes and traybakes! Easy and less washing up which is a bonus! This looks so comforting and delicious.
Gemma Cook
This looks delicious. I’m definitely going to be making this soon x
Helen
Thanks Gemma. It’s a lovely comforting dish on a cold evening – like we have now…
kimneville1
Looks delicious and quite easy to make as well so one for me to try out on the family thanks for sharing 🙂
Helen
Thanks. I hope your family enjoy it like mine did 🙂
Sarah M
Looks absolutely delicious. So delicious in fact that I might give this a go this evening!
Helen
Thanks Sarah! I hope you enjoy making and eating it 🙂
Rosana @ Hot&CHilli Food and Travel Blog
I love pasta and spinach and this recipe marries my two favourite things! R
kellie anderson
I haven’t tried the one-pot pasta idea yet but I like your version with, and a perfect weekday meal for the family
Helen
Thanks Kellie. I think one-pot-pasta is going to be a regular dinner feature in our house – so easy! And so little washing up! Love it 😀
Foodie Quine (@foodiequine)
LOVE the sound of this. Spinach and Mushrooms are one of my favourite combinations. I’ve never heard of ptitim but love orzo.
Helen
Thanks – spinach & mushrooms are great together aren’t they?! Yum. Ptitim are sometimes called giant couscous or Israeli couscous. They’re basically like orzo but in slightly different shapes. The ones I used here were little stars, but they come in circles, flowers, hearts, spheres…
Camilla
I love this dish Helen, I am forever making meals out of spinach and mushrooms so great to have another one to try! Will have to get some of this pasta now! Thanks for linking up to #CreditCrunchMunch;-)
Helen
Thanks Camilla. If your local supermarket has a kosher section you might be able to find ptitim, otherwise you can use orzo or giant couscous.
Lucy Parissi
Goodness I think I must have lost at least 6 months browsing through Pinterest. I love one pot meals too – hey anything that cuts down on the washing up is a winner in my book! Love this recipe it looks so comforting and filling. Yum!
Helen
Thanks Lucy. Pinterest should come with a warning – productivity drain ahead!