Cooking on board can be very trying. When we are on a long trip and people don’t want to wait for calm waters I can either be found braced at an angle in front of the cooker, cursing whoever thought this was a good way to spend a holiday, or slapping hummus on bread and yelling ‘If you want anything else you can make it yourself’! Yesterday, however was not one of those days. Yesterday was a pootling in the sunshine with barely any wind sort of a day, it was a One Pot Pasta, a Vegetarian Puttanesca sort of a day – until the sting in the tail whipped us in the face and we were reminded once again how dangerous sailing can be!
I steered us away from our mooring, past Brownsea Island and out towards the harbour mouth before handing over to Mr TS to sail us past the Sandbanks chain ferry – I’m not keen on this bit, the ferry passes right across the harbour mouth while yachts, dinghies, massive motorboats and paddle boarders all play chicken trying to cross in front of it and jet skis are leaping off everyone’s wakes
Once we were clear of Poole Harbour madness we headed along the coast past Bournemouth before heading out to sea in the brilliant sunshine of an early June day. There were only the three of us on board as the teens are STILL revising. Bonus Boy took up position at the bow, checking that the bottom wasn’t too close and that there were no buoys ahead to wrap around our rudder! That slightly shifty look is because he was about to try to dip his feet in the water without removing his trainers first!
I’ve seen one pot pasta dishes all over Pinterest and have been dying to have a go. Draining vast quantities of boiling water from a vat of spaghetti into a small sink at a 30 degree angle is no fun at all, so anything which means I can avoid this is going to go down well with me! I decided to adapt my own regular recipe to make a One Pot Pasta Vegetarian Puttanesca.
Alla Puttanesca is usually translated into English as Whore’s Pasta, apparently because it is a dish cooked by the sort of woman who can’t be bothered to go to market to buy fresh produce and throws a meal together using things she finds in her cupboards! Since I am often a very long and wet way from market, it’s the perfect dish for me!
Here’s Mr TS and his lovely hands, holding up the bowl so you can see we were actually at sea and I’m not just having you on!
Because we were only out for a day sail I did have fresh tomatoes, an avocado and some salad leaves with me but this dish would happily stand alone without them. Grated cheese is optional (I used a strong cheddar) and can be replaced with grated vegan cheese (I have yet to find one I like) or vegan parmesan made with cashews, nutritional yeast, garlic powder and salt.
- 300g spaghetti or tagliatelle
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 medium sized red onion, halved and finely sliced
- 3 large cloves of garlic, finely chopped
- 3 cups of vegetable stock plus 1 cup water
- 1 cup tomato passata
- 18 cherry tomatoes
- 18 black olives
- 2 tsp basil pesto (Suitable for vegetarians and vegans, jarred is fine)
- freshly ground black pepper
- 1 avocado, mixed salad leaves and grated cheese (optional) to serve
- Heat the olive oil gently in a deep, wide based frying pan.
- Gently fry the red onion until soft, add the garlic and fry for a further minute.
- Add the spaghetti, 3 cups of stock, passata, tomatoes, olives and pesto, bring to the boil, reduce to a simmer.
- Poke the spaghetti into the stock as it softens.
- Cook for the length of time specified on the packet, stirring often to prevent the pasta sticking.
- The liquid will reduce and thicken as the pasta cooks, add a little more water if it gets too dry.
- Check that the pasta is cooked, add black pepper to taste.
- Serve with chopped avocado and salad leaves sprinkled with cheese.
The starch in the pasta isn’t poured down the sink in a one pot dish, it thickens the sauce and turns it into a divine, creamy work of art – I’m a total convert! I have a feeling that many one pot pasta dishes will be appearing on board this summer and that they will be making their way onto Thinly Spread shortly afterwards! Bonus Boy wasn’t impressed that I was adding red onions to his pasta but he ate his words as he ate the puttanesca and declared it ‘Delicious’!
The sting in the tail was that shortly after we had eaten our lunch, and just as I was settling in for a sunbathe, the sea mist appeared out of nowhere and engulfed us. It’s incredibly scary when this happens, we couldn’t see further than 150m, it was cold and wet and we knew that there were lots of other boats out there, big and small, all sailing along in the fog where we suddenly couldn’t see them. The wind also picked up which meant that we went from pottering along on a flat sea at 2 knots to whizzing along leaning right over at 8 knots. We reduced our sails and I took up position on our port side, peering into the gloom, while Mr TS peered to starboard and steered us as carefully as possible back the way we had come. We have GPS so we can ‘see’ where we are even if we can’t actually see but it doesn’t show us where anyone else is! After a pretty hairy hour or so we emerged unscathed from the fog bank and headed for home – perhaps not surprisingly I don’t have any photos to show of that particular adventure!
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Hello! I'm Chris, vegan lover of life, wordsmith, storyteller, picture taker, mum to four. Welcome to Thinly Spread where I share recipes, kitchen stories, travels, adventures and family warmth from our home in deepest Somerset and our boat in Poole.
Ooh goodness gracious me, that does sound a bit scary, especially with such crowded waters. I bet you were relieved to emerge into visibility again.
Not sure where I’ve been hiding all this time, but one pot pasta dishes are news to me. What a fab idea. It always annoys me having to wash up an extra pot when cooking something as simple as pasta for supper.
Hugely relieved! I think once you start making one pot pasta it’s going to be very hard to stop!
Sailing sounds like fun- I’m sure you’re going to laugh at the memories 🙂 now on a busy night, one pot pastas are the best! Hardly any dishes. Your dish looks good- I just might make some tonight.
We do, from a distance! The kids have grown up sailing – I sailed all through my pregnancy with Bonus Boy – and we’ve had quite a few hairy moments and many, many fabulous ones!
The one pot recipe looks fantastic but I am afraid the boat bit isn’t for me.
Sure I can’t tempt you?!
Goodness that sounds rather scary – There was me getting sucked into the romance of an onboard meal. One pot dishes are fantastic for any holiday activities – this is one I’ll be remembering when we are caravanning. Thank you.
Sailing can go from one extreme to another in a blink! Where are you off to on your caravan adventures and will there be swimming?!
Wow, I speak very basic Italian, have made a puttanesca many times, but had no idea it translated as whore’s pasta! Oooer! Such a great idea though, and especially in small places. I can’t imagine how one cooks anything on a boat – well done you. And what a day you had for sailing, wonderful!
Apart from the fog, yes! Nigella called hers Slut’s Pasta as far as I recall! 😀
Love the simplicity of this dish, and the smile on your son’s face as he digs in! Along with a nail-biter of a story – so glad you made it back safely!
Thanks Kari! I love that grin too – especially when he had been moaning about the onions when they were going in!
The pasta dish sounds lovely. The sea mist pirate adventure not so but I am super pleased you made back safely. My darling husband made an all in one pasta dish for me and I hugged him afterwards as it was so delicious. X
He’s a keeper, that’s for sure! I was very glad to see the fog beginning to lift – you wouldn’t have believed how bad it was if you were on land!
I love being on boats but that crowded scene does sound stressful! At least you had this delicious pasta to make up for it 🙂 And I love that photo of your son – great capture, Chris!
Yum! This looks gorgeous – I love the addition of avocado (which seems to make everything better!) and I love that it can be made in one pot – my kind of cooking!! 🙂
Looks delicious – it took me a few goes to find a one pot pasta that worked for me but when it works it is brilliant. Sounds like a great idea for a meal on a boat as you don’t want to be draining hot water off pasta if you are not stable!