Martha Stewart’s One-Pan Pasta Recipe Is Wildly Popular—but How Does It Taste? Here’s a Food Editor’s Review

Martha Stewart’s one-pan pasta is basically a garlicky linguine teeming with juicy tomatoes. Onions and crushed red pepper flakes add respective sweetness and spice to an otherwise simple mix of pantry staples, like salt, black pepper and olive oil. Freshly grated Parmesan cheese and sprigs of basil dress the dish up just right in the eleventh hour.

Most notably, though, her recipe is forgiving and flexible. You can use a pot instead of a skillet as long as it’s roomy enough, spaghetti instead of linguine or substitute a broth of your choice for water for even more flavor. I’d also suggest adding something briny (like capers), bright (like lemon juice) or meaty (like canned fish or grilled chicken). But most intriguing to me is that all the components cook together in one pan (ideally a straight-sided skillet), meaning you won’t need to wait for a hulking pot of water to come to a boil before starting and cleanup will be a cinch.

First, everything but the garnishes are added to a large pan and brought to a boil. I realized that my pan might have been a touch small for the task, but once the water started boiling, the noodles started to soften, and I was soon able to fully submerge them.

The pasta cooked for a little less than ten minutes. I tossed it as it boiled to help the water reduce and to evenly cook the pasta. This drew out the noodles’ starchiness; combined with the juicy tomatoes, it created a sauce that took minimal effort. Once most of the liquid had evaporated and thickened, I seasoned the pasta with more salt and pepper to taste and crowned my bowl with fresh basil, Parm and a drizzle of olive oil.

I’m not one of those diehard tomato people, but this simplistic Martha Stewart pasta recipe really made them shine. They’re key to the sauce’s juicy, flavorful nature, along with the alliums and fresh herbs. The smell was herbaceous and fresh from the get; once the salty, funky Parm hit the noodles, it was officially complete. I also liked how flexible everything was; I’d probably add more crushed red pepper flakes next time and less onion. Ricotta would also be a great last-minute mix-in for a creamier consistency.

As for the cooking process, it was nice to not have to use a separate pan to make a sauce. Sure, I still had to wait for water to boil, but once it did, it was a 13- to 15-minute dash to a complete dinner. (It took longer for the water to evaporate than the recipe said it would; I might trim it down to 4 cups of water instead of 4½ to get less watery results without overcooking the noodles.)

One con I hadn’t anticipated was some of the noodles and tomatoes sticking to the bottom of my stainless steel skillet. This didn’t affect the flavor because they didn’t burn, but it was annoying to clean. I’d use a nonstick pan or pot next time. But the TLDR? This recipe is easy enough for any newbie to master on her first try. Thanks, Martha.