Super simple One Pot Chickpea Tomato Pasta that’s bursting with flavour in every bite, while keeping the costs low.
The day of love is all about showing the one you love just how much you love them. Some give gifts, others take trips and people like us eat food. Because after all food is the ultimate love language. There’s nothing better than a home-cooked meal and that’s why we created a delicious 3-course Valentine’s Day menu that you can cook in the comfort of your own home. Plus it’s super easy to make AND costs under $15 for the entire menu.
The perfect Valentine’s Day menu:
- Mashed Green Pea Crostini – A simple appetizer that utilizes similar ingredients to the entree. This appetizer is bright, vibrant and super simple to make.
- One Pot Chickpea Tomato Pasta – The main course is an easy, one pot pasta recipe packed with great nutritional value! It comes together in just about 30 minutes and uses quality ingredients that are bursting with flavour.
- 3-Ingredient Chocolate Mousse – Yep, three simple ingredients and you’ve got yourself the perfect end to your Valentine’s Day meal.
Now let’s talk about this entree. Using minimal ingredients with a few key splurges, this pasta is the only dish you need this Valentine’s Day. Time to break down how we kept this dish flavourful and on a budget. First things we broke down the recipe and looked for the most important ingredients. In our eyes those were the canned tomatoes for the sauce and the pasta, everything else was just extra. That means we spent slightly more on each of those ingredients. Everything else we opted for the cheapest option.
What’s the secret ingredient to a flavourful one pot tomato pasta?
San Marzano Tomatoes! If you’re looking to have the best tasting pasta ever, use San Marzano canned tomatoes. Simply swamping regular canned or diced tomatoes with San Marzano can take your pasta up so many levels. There are two different kinds of San Marzano tomatoes you can get: DOP and not. DOP is a San Marzano tomato that’s been certified that it was grown in a certain region in Italy, is a certain strain of tomatoes and a few other key characteristics. This version is typically very expensive, which is why we opt for San Marzano tomatoes that aren’t certified DOP. They still have a delicious flavour, but the price is drastically lower.
One Pot Chickpea Tomato Pasta
Ingredients
- 45 mL (3 tbsp) olive oil
- 150 g (1) white onion, , diced
- 19 fl oz can chickpeas
- 27 g (3 tbsp) garlic powder
- 6 g (1 tbsp) Italian seasoning
- 5 g (2 tsp) red pepper flakes
- 28 fl oz can San Marzano style tomatoes
- 480 mL (2 cups) water
- (1 tbsp) bouillon paste
- 10 oz pasta
- black pepper
- parsley, ,for topping
Instructions
- Place a pot on medium-high heat on the stove. Allow to heat for about 2 minutes.
- Add oil to hot pot with diced onion and cook for about 5 minutes.
- Add chickpeas, garlic powder, italian seasoning and red pepper flakes. Cook for an additional 5 minutes.
- 4. Using your hands crush the canned tomatoes into the pot. Stir in then add the water and broth paste. Stir to combine.
- 5. Add pasta and cook until al dente - about 10 minutes, but depends on choice of pasta.
- When finished, stir in black pepper and serve. Top with chopped parsley.