Polish Wonder Pot

Have you seen the "one pot" pasta meals that have been making the rounds online?  You know, the ones where you throw a bunch of ingredients, including uncooked pasta, in a big pot and before you know it, dinner is ready.  This is a simple version that uses smoky kielbasa sausage and takes only about 30 minutes to make.  Here's how it's done.

Start by sauteing a pound of kielbasa in a dry skillet over medium heat until brown on both sides. The kielbasa will render its own fat so no need to add any oil to the pan.

When the kielbasa is brown, remove it from the pan and set aside until later.

In the same pan, saute the sliced onions in the rendered kielbasa fat.

Stir the onions occasionally until they turn translucent and begin to caramelize.

Return the kielbasa to the pan.

Add 1 1/2 cups of your favorite tomato sauce (try my delicious san marzano tomato sauce recipe).

Stir in 4 cups of water. Raise heat and bring mixture to a boil.

Add 1 pound of dry fettuccini. Be sure to use fettuccine - other pasta would require a different amount of water and I haven't had time to experiment.

Press the fettuccine into the liquid and move it around a little to prevent the pasta from sticking together. Lower the heat back to medium.

Stir frequently until the liquid is absorbed and the pasta is cooked "al dente". This should take 10-15 minutes.

Turn off the heat and stir in a handful of fresh spinach.

Taste carefully and season with salt and pepper before serving. You may or may not need to add any depending on how flavorful your tomato sauce was.

That's it - plate it up and dig in!

Polish Wonder Pot

makes 6 servings

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 pound kielbasa, sliced into 1/4-inch thick coins

• 1 large onion, sliced

• 1 1/2 cups flavorful tomato sauce (jarred or homemade)

• 4 cups water

• 1 pound dry fettuccine

• 1 handful fresh spinach leaves

Directions

1. In a very wide skillet or stockpot over medium heat, saute kielbasa on both sides until browned; remove from pan and set aside until needed.

2. In the same skillet or stockpot, saute onions in rendered kielbasa fat until they turn translucent and begin to caramelize (add olive oil if needed).

3. Return browned kielbasa to pan.

4. Add tomato sauce and water; stir well to combine.

5. Raise heat to high and bring to a boil.

6. Add fettuccine, submerging it in the boiling liquid as best you can, moving a bit to keep the pasta from sticking together.

7. Lower heat to medium and stir pasta occasionally until liquid is absorbed and pasta is cooked "al dente".

8. Remove from heat and stir in spinach.

9. Stir well and season with salt and pepper if needed.