One Pot Wonder with Kale Pesto

These recipes flooded Pinterest this summer and I was so intrigued, I just had to try it!

To be honest...

I was blown a w a y!

Seriously.

Not only did this totally "work", it was delicious, hearty and the most awesome....

Really fast!

Also, think leftovers, like Thanksgiving! this would be a perfect way to use that leftover turkey!

I even used a whole grain pasta, and it was PERFECTLY cooked. The veggies were crisp tender and it just made a stellar bowl of pasta.

On this, my first attempt, I did brown and crumble two Italian sausages in the pot first, but this would have been delicious without it as well.

The broth leached the starches out of the pasta and made a silky sauce that coated everything nicely. The nice thing about all of the one pot dishes out there, yes-they're made in one pot, you can literally clean out your frig and pantry. 

Use a lonely pepper, carrots, celery, a leftover half onion, those 6 slices of pepperoni or ham, that one chicken leg (pull the meat off first), a half can of black olives and on and on....

I also didn't add any salt, by using a regular broth, not low sodium, this was seasoned in the salt category perfectly, and my pesto added that nice punch of brightness!

INGREDIENTS:

12 ounces linguine/Spaghetti pasta-I broke mine in half

1 can (15 ounces) diced tomatoes with liquid 

1 medium sweet onion, cut in 1/2 and sliced thinly

3 cloves garlic, very thinly sliced

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

2 teaspoons dried oregano leaves

4 1/2 cups vegetable broth (use regular broth and NOT low sodium)

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

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Above is the basic recipe- now this is where you can be creative

Preheat pot over medium heat-cook and crumble 2-3 Italian sausage links, then proceed

1 yellow bell pepper, chopped

4-6 Roma tomatoes, chopped

Fresh basil

Spinach

Kale

1 chicken Breast, cubed (raw)

2 carrots, sliced thinly

Celery, sliced

Mushrooms

Zucchini

Pesto

And so on....

Parmesan cheese for garnish

DIRECTIONS:

Place pasta, tomatoes, onion, and garlic in a large stock pre heated pot. Pour in vegetable broth. Sprinkle on top the pepper flakes and oregano. Drizzle top with oil.

Cover pot and bring to a boil. Reduce to a low simmer and keep covered and cook for about 10-12 minutes, stirring every 2 minutes or so. Cook until almost all liquid has evaporated – I left about an inch of liquid in the bottom of the pot – but you can reduce as much as you like, this helps to make it saucy!

Season to taste with salt and pepper if needed. Add pesto and stir pasta several times to distribute the liquid in the bottom of the pot evenly throughout the pasta as you are serving. Serve garnished with Parmesan cheese.

Enjoy! 

 This recipe is shared on My Link Parties. Also shared on http:// www.thecountrycook.net and http://www.bunsinmyoven.com/ and http://www.foodiefriendsfridaydailydish.com/