one-pot pantry pasta
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Happy holidays!
Was your Thanksgiving as weird as ours? We had a 2020-themed Thanksgiving — thanks to snot becoming our sixth family member over the past week, we spent the holiday alone.
I love cooking big holiday meals with a kitchen full of people, but cooking a Thanksgiving meal this year would have meant me in the kitchen solo all day while George wrangled three sick boys solo all day, and that just didn’t sound like something to be thankful for at all.
Instead, we went for a long hike (long in hours, not in miles, have you ever tried to hike with two toddlers…?) and had Thanksgiving lunch at a local restaurant. The adults guzzled Prosecco, the toddlers ate chicken fingers and chocolate chip cookies, and it was a perfect day in the end. I hope you were able to find the joy and gratitude, wherever you were!
now, let’s talk one-pot pantry pasta
I don’t know about y’all, but dinnertime has snuck up on me almost every single night since Daylight Savings. Enter: this quickie one-pot pasta that I think almost all of you will be able to cook without taking a trip to the grocery store. Seriously. Read the substitutions. The entire point of this pasta is to help you clear out your fridge/freezer/pantry. Especially if you just hosted Thanksgiving and have tons of random bits and bobs leftover.
Yes, this pasta has ketchup in it. Yes, I know that sounds bizarre. But stay with me here — ketchup is an ingredient found in most refrigerators, and it has a really concentrated and balanced tomato flavor (aka the perfect combination of sweet, salty, and acidic — there’s a reason we all love it). And we’re only using a tiny amount! If you aren’t a ketchup household, I have a million other ideas for how to add flavor in the subs section, don’t you worry.
It also has 1 1/2 cups of cauliflower in it, which blends right in with the ground meat. I love it for adults because it’s an easy way to add a veggie serving into a pasta meal, and I love that my kids had no clue they were eating vegetables.
It’s delicious. It has hamburger helper vibes in all the best ways. You will love it.
one-pot pantry pasta
Serves 4
Cook time: ~35 minutes
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