I’ve Been Making Martha’s One-Pan Pasta for Years—Here's Why It's So Good

I've been making Martha's famous One-Pan Pasta for over 10 years, and it lives up to the hype. In spring 2013, there was a lot of buzz about a recipe being developed in the decorvow test kitchen. One of the food editors had returned from a trip to Italy and recounted a special pasta she had in Puglia that she just couldn't get out of her head. Everyone loved the concept of the dish, and they set about recreating it for American home cooks as an easy, any-night dinner.

The recipe was a sensation from the moment it appeared in the June issue of decorvow Living magazine. Martha was so on board with the recipe that she made a video about it—and the recipe has been a perennial success ever since. It's my ideal hump night dinner for sure; and if you aren't already on board with this weeknight pasta, I'm here to convert you.

Why It's a Revolutionary Recipe

This one-pot pasta shakes up everything you know about cooking pasta and making a quick dinner. It has just a few ingredients, nothing out of the ordinary, and uses only one pan. Plus, it takes just 20 minutes to make.

Usually, pasta is added to a large pot with plenty of boiling water. The sauce happens separately, and the two elements come together when you drain the pasta and add it to the sauce (or vice versa). With one-pan pasta, just one pot is used, not two or more. The pasta cooks with the sauce's ingredients and in much less water than we food editors (and every Italian nonna) would usually tell you to use to ensure the pasta is al dente. It's really mind-blowing and hard to believe the first time you make it. But it becomes second nature—and you soon know this recipe by heart because it's so quick and easy, so good, everyone loves it, and you only have one pan to clean afterward!

Just a few ingredients, one pan, plus 20 minutes are all you need for this recipe.

The Ingredients and the Pan

When I make one-pan pasta, I set out the ingredients before I start because they all go into the pan at the beginning of cooking. It also means you don't forget the chile flakes, which has happened before, and they are an essential element of this simple dish. The recipe calls for a straight-sided skillet; you need a shallow pan, not a big pasta pot. I actually use a wide but shallow paella pan I got on sale years ago when I thought I was going to be someone who made paella all the time (and before I knew about all the amazing Spanish paella pans!). You don't need a lid, so it might be easier to find a pan that works.

The Revolutionary Technique

Add Everthing

Everything goes into the pan—except for the cheese and additional fresh basil for serving. That's linguine, cherry or grape tomatoes, a medium onion sliced thin, 4 cloves of garlic, also sliced thin, 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes, 2 tablespoons of olive oil, 2 large sprigs of basil, and 4 ½ cups of water. It might seem like a lot of garlic, but it isn't; it's needed for the sauce's flavor, just as the chile flakes are. It feels strange, wrong even, to put all the ingredients into the pan with the pasta.

Cook, Stir, and Taste

The recipe says to stir frequently during cooking; this is to make sure everything cooks evenly. Like Martha did in her video, I use tongs for this because a wooden spoon, my usual go-to stirring tool, can't move the linguine around like tongs can. My tongs are a very basic bamboo pair, and after seeing them in these photos, I might be springing for some more professional-looking ones.

A few stirs later, I always taste a noodle to see if it's done. (I use a timer to make sure I don't get distracted and overcook the linguine.) The onion looks cooked, and the tomatoes have broken up and combined with the water to become saucy, but there is nothing like tasting the pasta because who wants a simple pasta dinner with undercooked pasta? And different brands of linguine come with slightly different cooking times. It often needs another minute or two.

Skip the Straining!

Once it's ready, comes another surprising element of the dish—no straining the pasta! The pasta water has cooked down with the other ingredients to become the sauce, and there is no liquid to drain off—and no strainer to wash after.

Here's How It Turned Out

Freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano made oh so easy by using a microplane, and torn leaves of fresh basil finish the dish, along with coarse salt and black pepper. My family has eaten one-pan pasta so much they take it for granted, so I made dinner for a friend who hadn't had the dish before. They loved it. Their only criticism was portion size; the recipe says it serves four, but they felt three was more accurate if they were going to be eating it. (I didn't tell them I totally agree and have made the whole recipe for my family of three all these years!)

A Few Tips

There are a couple of non-negotiables: 

• You must use linguine or another long noodle like spaghetti that takes about 10 minutes to cook. Angel hair won't work because it cooks too quickly and doesn't allow time for the sauce to come together—I haven't tested the recipe using angel hair because I just know it won't work. Similarly, this is not the time for a short noodle like penne or farfalle, or anything that isn't long and skinny because the sauce is light and needs a skinny noodle.
• Fresh basil is essential—do not swap in dried.
• Grate your own Parmesan for serving; use the best Parm you can find—do not use pregrated because it doesn't taste the same.