#1,883: One-Pot Spaghetti and Sausage

This super simple recipe got super good reviews from my family even though they were appalled that I would put grated carrots in this dish.  Can you even see them?  NO...yeah, neither could I.  But my husband and my middle child both tried picking it out at first.  (Insert eye roll here).  My husband complained that his body would start rejecting the veggies as soon as he started eating it.  Needless to say, we had leftovers, and my husband happily ate those (I thought he was going to have to fight my oldest for it, but she was kind and let him have them).  :)

The only thing I did differently with this recipe was that I did NOT add the canned cherry tomatoes.  Adding grated carrots was a big enough risk for me to take, and I knew they would all just pick out the tomatoes anyways.  This is definitely best served with grated parmesan cheese on top.  I will definitely make this again. 

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

8 ounces sweet or hot Italian sausage, casings removed

1 onion, halved and thinly sliced

1 carrot, grated

4 cloves garlic, sliced

1 tablespoon tomato paste (I probably used more like 2 tbsp)

10 ounces spaghetti, broken in half

1 14-ounce can cherry tomatoes (I omitted and added a little bit of jarred spaghetti sauce instead)

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large wide pot over medium-high heat. Add the sausage and cook, breaking up the meat into small pieces with a wooden spoon, until lightly browned and no longer pink, about 5 minutes. Pour off the fat from the meat.

Add the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil and the onion to the skillet; cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion softens, about 5 minutes. Stir in the carrot, garlic and tomato paste and cook until the garlic softens, 1 to 2 minutes.

Add 4 1/2 cups water, the spaghetti, cherry tomatoes, 1/2 teaspoon salt and a few grinds of pepper to the pot. Increase the heat to high and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer; cook, stirring occasionally, until the pasta is tender and the sauce thickens, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from the heat and add the parsley; season with salt and pepper and toss.