My Favorite "New" Way To Cook Pasta - One Pot Pasta

Have any of you not caught the Pinterest bug yet?  I do not spend a lot of time on there, but when I am looking for ideas for different things I find myself on there.  I am a visual person and so the images that then can lead me to tutorials and/or recipes on how to make things are wonderful!  A few months ago, I started to see pictures popping up of making pasta dinners "all in one pot".  They caught my attention and here about 6 weeks ago, I decided to try it.  I was thrilled with the results and so were my husband and the boys.

The first time I made it, I used one box of pasta, 3 cans of chicken broth, one can of diced tomatoes, 3 fresh cloves of garlic chopped, 1 medium onion cut into thin slices, dried oregano,  some finely chopped cauliflower I had left from a veggie tray, fresh mushrooms, and some fresh spinach and 2 tablespoons of olive oil drizzeled on top.  I brought everything to a boil as recommended, and then turned down to a simmer and stirred every 2 minutes for about 10-15 minutes while I reduced the chicken broth.  At the same time, I sauteed 3 chopped chicken breasts with seasoning in a separate pan.  I then mixed the chicken in with the pasta pot at the very end.  I have to say it turned out great and the fresh flavor to the whole mixture was wonderful!  Everyone ate it and loved it.

This spring, my husband has really decided to get into gardening in our backyard.  He built this amazing planter in May and it has now become our fresh herb garden.

About 2 weeks ago, I decided it was time to make pasta all in one pot again and realized that I had our wonderful new herb garden to be able to use fresh herbs and was pretty excited.  We also have a sugar snap pea plant that has started producing pretty well and so I decided I would use them as well in the pasta.

This time, my combination included: 3 different kinds of fresh basil and cilantro from the herb garden and the sugar snap peas.

I am sorry that I didn't take a picture of it when it was all done, but I have to tell you that it was wonderful!  I have even used whole wheat pasta both times I have made it, and my husband and the boys didn't even notice because the flavors are so fresh and tasty.  I can't believe what a healthy way this is to make a meal that incorporates grains, vegetables, and meats in such a tasty way and so I just had to share with everyone.