Last weekend I seized the opportunity to attend the Southern Food Writing Conference in Knoxville, TN. Along with a full stomach (thanks to Blackberry Farm, Tupelo Honey Cafe, and Benton’s Bacon) and some new friends, I walked away with a head full of inspiration.

I realized that I’ve gotten into a bit of a cooking rut, making the same three dishes each week and visiting my usual restaurants in between. It’s time to branch out! So here we go.

A few weeks ago, I randomly got a Martha Stewart Living magazine in the mail and came across a recipe for one-post pasta. I was intrigued. You just cook everything in there together all at once. Could it really be so easy? I had to know.

With the simplest ingredients that I already had in my kitchen, this dish magically cooked itself into a delicious pasta and sauce. The only thing left to add was salty parm.

One-Pot Pasta
Adapted from Martha Stewart Living
Serves 2

6 ounces dried linguine (All I had was wheat spaghetti and it worked, but I think linguine would have been better. The spaghetti broke up quite a bit.)
1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes, sliced in half
½ a yellow onion, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 large sprigs basil, plus more for garnish
2¼ cups water
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese for serving

• Place all ingredients (sans Parmesan) into a large pot.
• Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring often. Cook until almost all the liquid has evaporated.
  
• Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve with lots of Parmesan cheese and basil leaf threads.