One pot, endless flavors! Chef John shares 5 delicious and easy one-pot dinner recipes that are perfect for busy weeknights or cozy family meals. From comforting classics like American Goulash and Chicken Noodle Soup to flavorful favorites like Sausage & Peppers and Orzo, these recipes are as simple as they are satisfying.
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00:00Hello, this is Chef John from foodwishes.com with
00:04One Pot Dinners.
00:06That's right. These are the recipes that make your life easier by not only being delicious and nutritious but also making clean up a breeze.
00:14So stay tuned as we help you make your weeknight dinners effortlessly unforgettable and as always enjoy.
00:23American Goulash.
00:24That's right. The first time I was ever served real goulash
00:27I was very confused because they gave me what looked like beef stew and I was like, hey, where's the ground beef and macaroni?
00:33Are you guys sure this is goulash?
00:35And they were like, yes, we're sure. We're Hungarian.
00:39Anyways, it turns out what I had been enjoying as a child in the high school cafeteria was not actually goulash, but was American goulash.
00:47Which is the version I'm going to show you how to make today.
00:50So with that, let's go ahead and get started. With a well olive oiled pot set over medium high heat
00:55to which we will add a diced onion as well as two pounds of ground beef.
01:00Ideally grass-fed if you can find it.
01:02And the first phase of this operation is referred to as breaking and browning.
01:06Since what we're going to do while this comes up to temperature is break up the meat as small as we can with a spatula
01:11or spoon.
01:12And for me the best tool for the job here is a flat wooden spatula.
01:15Or as we call it in the business a flatula.
01:18And what's going to happen as we break this up and it starts to brown
01:21is that you're probably going to see a fair amount of moisture in the bottom of the pan.
01:24Which is totally normal and fine.
01:27But what we want to do before we move on to the next step is cook this until virtually all that moisture evaporates.
01:33And we can see that the bottom of the pan is basically dry.
01:36All right, you see that?
01:38And then once that happens in some recipes we'd actually keep cooking this until our beef and onions got nicely browned.
01:44But for this recipe that is not traditionally done.
01:47But anyway, what we'll do once we've reached dry bottom status is stop and toss in some minced garlic.
01:52As well as a generous amount of salt.
01:55And we'll also toss in some black pepper and cayenne pepper at the same time for a little change of pace.
02:00We are also definitely going to need some paprika.
02:03Preferably Hungarian, but Spanish will do.
02:06And then we will finish up with a big spoon of dry Italian herb mix.
02:10As well as one or two bay leaves.
02:12Or in my case one and a half bay leaves.
02:14And what we'll do is stir that in and then cook it for about three or four minutes.
02:18Which we are not only doing to saute the garlic, but also to sort of toast and wake up those spices.
02:24So we'll go ahead and cook that for a few minutes stirring.
02:27At which point we can proceed to add our wet ingredients.
02:30Which for me is going to be a quarter chicken broth. Or if you want you could use water.
02:35Which is what I'm pretty sure the lunch ladies at my school cafeteria use.
02:39And then we will also add some diced tomatoes. Either canned or if they're in season fresh.
02:44Plus one 24 ounce jar of prepared marinara sauce.
02:48And of course as usual we will rinse the jar with some cold fresh water.
02:52And for this recipe we want to use about a cup.
02:56Followed by the one and only secret ingredient.
02:58A splash of soy sauce.
03:00Oh, yeah.
03:01Oh, and by the way, some people will tell you the secret ingredient is Worcestershire sauce, but it's not. It's soy sauce.
03:07But anyway, we will go ahead and stir that together and wait for it to come back to a simmer.
03:13At which point I like to lower the heat to medium and let this cook for about 30 minutes.
03:18Okay, a lot of people make the mistake of adding their macaroni as soon as it starts to bubble again.
03:22But I really think we want to let this simmer so that all our flavors get extracted into our cooking liquid.
03:27Since that flavorful liquid is what's going to hydrate our pasta.
03:31And if we cook the macaroni now, I don't think it's going to be as tasty.
03:34So I did let mine simmer for about 30 minutes. At which point it looked like this.
03:39Oh, and if you want to skim some of that beef fat off the top, go ahead. But I'm not going to for this.
03:43Or especially if it's grass-fed beef. That stuff's good for you.
03:47And then what we're going to do is raise our heat to medium high.
03:50And as soon as our mixture starts to boil again, we'll go ahead and dump in a couple cups of macaroni.
03:55And I'm going with the classic elbow, since that's what I grew up eating.
04:00But really any small pasta shape should work.
04:03And then what we'll do is stir that in and cook it for about 12 minutes or so.
04:07Or until it is just tender.
04:10And this is not something you'll have to stir continually.
04:13But I'd say at least every two to three minutes.
04:16And you'll see every time you stir, that macaroni will get a little bit plumper.
04:21And of course, as always, your times may vary. So make sure you taste a piece or two if you're not sure.
04:26Right, this is definitely a dish we don't want the pasta al dente.
04:30And if everything goes according to plan, after about 10 to 12 minutes, you should have something that looks very close to this.
04:37And then what we'll do as soon as we think our macaroni is just cooked, is turn off the heat.
04:41And stir in some freshly chopped Italian parsley.
04:44As well as a nice big handful of shredded cheddar cheese.
04:48Which by the way, I should mention is technically optional. Okay, a lot of recipes don't include it.
04:53Or the cheese is just used to garnish the top.
04:56But I really think it does wonderful things here, so I add it.
04:59And then what we'll do as soon as that's stirred in, is cover this and leave it alone for five minutes.
05:04We'll just let it sit there resting, absorbing all those flavors.
05:08And that's it. After five minutes, we can uncover it.
05:11And we'll give it a stir.
05:13And at this point, our American goulash is officially done.
05:16Except of course, we always have to give it a taste and check for salt or whatever else.
05:21But I'm very happy to report mine tasted exactly how I wanted.
05:25Which means we can grab a ladle and serve it up.
05:28And I went ahead and finished this off with a little bit of extra shredded cheddar cheese.
05:31Plus one more sprinkling of Italian parsley.
05:34And if you wanted, you could also top this with parmesan.
05:37Which is also a nice choice. So that's up to you.
05:40I mean, you are after all the Chuck Mangione of this beefaroni.
05:44One pan chicken, sausage, peppers, and potatoes.
05:48That's right. I'm going to show you how to make a quick and easy stove top version
05:53of one of our most popular recipes of all time.
05:55Which involved the same ingredients being roasted in the oven.
05:59And by the way, since the name is kind of long, we've given this the nickname chasapapo.
06:04Which is quicker and I think definitely more fun to say.
06:07But no matter what you call this, it's incredibly delicious and super easy to make.
06:12And to get started, what we'll do is drizzle some olive oil into a large skillet.
06:15Preferably non-stick.
06:17And once we've transferred in a couple tablespoons, we will take one Italian sausage.
06:22And we'll slice open the casing.
06:24And then we'll break off little nuggets about this size.
06:27And we'll distribute those evenly around the pan.
06:29And no, they don't all have to be exactly the same size.
06:32Although sort of close would be good.
06:35And by the way, this is a sweet Italian sausage.
06:37But of course, if you want, you could use spicy.
06:40Which is what we used in the original version of chasapapo.
06:43But anyway, once that pan's been sausaged, we'll go ahead and place in some potatoes cut side down.
06:49Which can be some small potatoes like this cut in half.
06:52Or some larger potatoes cut into pieces that look like small potatoes cut in half.
06:56Okay, as long as they're about this size, it doesn't matter.
06:59But regardless, we do want to place those in so they're in full contact with the pan.
07:04And then what we'll do after the potatoing is place in some pieces of raw chicken.
07:08Which in my case were some cut up boneless skinless chicken thighs.
07:12And for the best searing, these really should be placed smooth side down.
07:16Which I didn't start to do.
07:17Which is why you're going to see me flip these over in a few seconds.
07:20And yes, of course, if you want to use chicken breast, go ahead.
07:24I mean, you are after all the Vincent van Gogh of your chasapapo.
07:28And speaking of ears, you should listen to this disclaimer.
07:31If you use breast meat, the timing of this dish is much harder to pull off.
07:35Since that can dry out very quickly.
07:38Whereas on the other hand, the chicken thighs make this a super simple easy to cook dish.
07:42Since they are much more forgiving.
07:44And you really have to try a lot harder to overcook those.
07:47But anyway, once our chicken has been tucked in, we will stop and do some seasoning.
07:52Including a generous amount of kosher salt.
07:55As well as some freshly ground black pepper.
07:57And because I am using mild Italian sausage, we'll do a few shakes of cayenne to heat things up.
08:03And then at this point, we'll also scatter over a little bit of dried herbs.
08:07Which can be your classic Italian seasoning blend.
08:10Which is usually oregano, thyme, rosemary, maybe some sage.
08:14Or if you're keeping score at home, I'm actually using Herb de Provence.
08:17Which is all that stuff I just said, plus a little touch of lavender.
08:20Which I find interesting and borderline exotic.
08:24But anyway, go ahead and use a little pinch of whatever dried herbs you like.
08:28And then over our chicken sausage and potato layer, we'll go ahead and scatter over some
08:31sliced onions.
08:32Which could be diced onions, if you dice them instead of slice them.
08:37And then as the name of the dish would indicate, we will also need some peppers.
08:41And I used three different kinds here.
08:43Some nice sweet red bell pepper.
08:45And then a couple green peppers, in the form of poblano and anaheim.
08:50And that is pretty much going to be it.
08:52We will just finish off with one more, possibly unnecessary, drizzle of olive oil.
08:57And then one more pinch of salt for those veggies on the top.
09:00And besides cooking it, this recipe is pretty much done.
09:04Okay, all we need to do is bring this to the stove.
09:07Where we will place it over high heat.
09:09And we will leave it over high heat for about five minutes.
09:12Until that pan gets nice and hot.
09:14And everything starts to sear.
09:16At which point it's probably going to sound something like this.
09:22Oh yeah, now that is definitely searing.
09:26And what's happening here, is the fat from the sausage is rendering out.
09:29And mixing with the olive oil in the pan.
09:32And that is creating this incredibly flavorful fat.
09:34In which all our other ingredients are starting to brown and caramelize.
09:38Which yes, is the same thing.
09:41And what we want to do is let that go for about five minutes or so.
09:44Or until we have some nice browning on our sausage.
09:47As well as our pieces of potato will start to take on some nice color.
09:50And once that's happened, what we'll do is lower our heat to medium high.
09:54At which point we'll cover this.
09:56And we'll let it cook for another five minutes or so.
09:59Or until our potatoes are just about tender.
10:01And as usual, the times I'm giving you are just guesses.
10:04Since it depends on your pan and your heat setting and the size of your ingredients.
10:08But anyway, you don't need exact times.
10:11Because at any point you can pull off the lid.
10:13And test those potatoes with a knife.
10:16And if you think they need a little more time.
10:18You can pop the lid back on and let them cook.
10:20Which is exactly what I did here.
10:23All right, they were getting close to almost being tender.
10:25But I decided after giving them the old polka polka.
10:28They did need a little more time.
10:30So I popped that lid back on.
10:32And gave them another minute or two.
10:34At which point I removed the cover.
10:36And moved into final production.
10:39And as you can see, we've achieved some beautiful caramelization.
10:43And again, not just any caramelization.
10:45Super flavorful sausage fat caramelization.
10:48Which just like the oven roasted version.
10:50Really is the secret behind this dish's incredible flavor.
10:53But anyway, what we'll do at this point is flip those potatoes and chicken pieces over.
10:57Which reminds me.
10:59If you don't want your pieces seared as deeply as mine.
11:01You could use a lower heat.
11:03But as you can see, I do like to go for a very dark sear.
11:06Since that really does make this more flavorful.
11:08And more savory.
11:10And will give our pan drippings a nice dark deep color.
11:13And then what we'll do to finish this off.
11:15Is simply dump in a half cup of chicken broth.
11:18Or if times are tough, you could just use a splash of water.
11:21And we will let that cook and reduce for a couple minutes.
11:24At which point, assuming our potatoes are tender.
11:26Which they really should be by now.
11:28We can go ahead and stir all this together and turn off the heat.
11:32Since we are pretty much ready to serve.
11:34Although for one final touch.
11:36I do like to squeeze over half a lemon.
11:38For a little bit of brightness.
11:40And for a little bit of acidity to cut through the richness.
11:43And as an alternative.
11:44You could use some wine with your broth.
11:46Or instead of.
11:48That would also serve a similar purpose.
11:50But anyway, personally I do enjoy the lemon in this.
11:53And other than squeezing that in.
11:55And giving this a quick taste.
11:57We are ready to serve this up.
11:59Which I like to do on a piece of toasted Italian bread.
12:03So as to soak in all those amazing juices.
12:06But obviously this would be incredible over potatoes.
12:08Or rice.
12:09Or pasta.
12:10And after serving that up.
12:12And spooning over a proper amount of those peppers and onions and juices.
12:16We might want to finish up with some fresh herb.
12:18In my case some freshly chopped Italian parsley.
12:21And that's it.
12:22Our one pan.
12:23Stovetop version.
12:24Of Chisapapo.
12:26Is ready to enjoy.
12:28Ground beef stroganoff noodles.
12:31That's right.
12:32Sometimes hamburger needs some help.
12:34In fact, there's a packaged product they developed to help hamburger.
12:38Which they called, I believe, Hamburger Helper.
12:41But with this recipe we're basically going to make the same thing.
12:43Only with like 40 less ingredients.
12:46And while this is a shortcut one pan version of classic stroganoff.
12:50I think I like this one as much, if not better.
12:53So with that let's go ahead and get started by melting some butter in some oil.
12:56Over medium high heat.
12:58To which we will add a generous cup of thinly sliced mushrooms.
13:02Along with about a teaspoon of kosher salt.
13:04And we'll go ahead and stir all that together.
13:07And we're going to cook this stirring occasionally.
13:09Until those mushrooms start to turn a beautiful golden brown.
13:12Which does not happen right away.
13:14Okay that salt's going to draw water out of the mushroom.
13:17So at first your pan is going to be kind of wet and steamy.
13:20But eventually that moisture evaporates away.
13:23And your mushrooms will start to fry in that oil and butter.
13:26And eventually, a few minutes later, they hopefully will look like this.
13:31And that's it.
13:31Once our mushrooms do take on a little bit of color.
13:33We'll go ahead and toss in some diced onions.
13:36Along with a pound of the finest ground beef we can find.
13:39And then what we'll do is take the edge of a spoon or spatula.
13:42And we'll go ahead and break that beef up into nice small crumbles.
13:45And of course how big or small you break up your meat is your business.
13:49But if you're asking me, I think you should break it up pretty small.
13:52And then what we'll do is cook our crumbled up beef and onions for about five minutes or so.
13:57To not only brown the beef, which improves the flavor.
14:00But we also want those onions to soften and sweeten.
14:03And of course turn translucent.
14:05And at any point during that process.
14:07We can stop and add some freshly ground black pepper.
14:10As well as of course a few shakes of cayenne.
14:12Which is optional, not optional.
14:15So I went ahead and stirred that in.
14:16And continued cooking.
14:19And about three or four minutes later my pan looked like this.
14:22Well when you see how the bottom of the pan is dry.
14:24And our ingredients are actually cooking in the fat.
14:27And not boiling in some kind of liquid.
14:29Right, that's exactly what we want.
14:31And if you do have a bunch of liquid.
14:33Let it evaporate out until your pan looks like this.
14:36And that's it.
14:37Once our beef and onions are looking good.
14:39We'll go ahead and toss in a couple cloves of finely minced garlic.
14:42As well as a rounded tablespoon of flour.
14:44And we will stir that in.
14:46And cook that for about a minute or so.
14:48Just to take that rage off the garlic.
14:50And toast that flour a little bit.
14:53And even though that's not a lot of flour.
14:55Along with the starch from our noodles.
14:57That's going to help tighten up our sauce a little bit.
15:00And after cooking that for about a minute or so.
15:02You'll notice everything sort of sticking to the bottom of the pan.
15:05Which is not a bad thing.
15:06It's a good thing.
15:08Because what we'll do now is stop.
15:10And put in two tablespoons of a very surprising ingredient.
15:13And that would be some vodka.
15:15Oh yeah, you heard me.
15:16Vodka.
15:17And be careful.
15:18Sometimes when you put that in there.
15:19It can flame up.
15:20Especially if you tip the pan like this.
15:23So don't tip the pan like that.
15:25And because that vodka is so high in alcohol.
15:27It's going to evaporate really quickly.
15:29So it's not really going to deglaze the bottom too well.
15:32But that's okay.
15:33Because as soon as we put that in.
15:35We'll go ahead and toss in our beef broth.
15:37And obviously try to use something nice.
15:40And then we'll also add about a cup of cold fresh water.
15:42And we'll stir all that together.
15:44Making sure we're scraping the bottom of the pan.
15:46To release all that cooked on caramelized goodness.
15:49And then all we need to do at this point.
15:51Is wait for this to come back to the simmer.
15:53And once it does.
15:54We'll give it another stir.
15:56And then we will simply let this cook for 10 minutes.
15:59During which time that foam on the top will magically disappear.
16:02And things will reduce down a little bit.
16:04And thanks to that and that little bit of flour.
16:06You'll see things maybe thicken up a little bit.
16:09So that's what I did.
16:10And about 10 minutes later things look like this.
16:13And then what we'll do at this point.
16:15Is lower our heat to medium.
16:17And we will move into final production.
16:19Which means we will add the egg noodles of our choice.
16:22And we'll stir those in.
16:24And for me the smaller twisted up ones work better.
16:26But really any kind of egg noodle will do.
16:29Although depending on the size and shape.
16:31Your times may vary.
16:32But that's okay.
16:33We're not really going to go by time.
16:35We're going to go by look and feel.
16:37Which is almost always more accurate.
16:39And then once we have those noodles stirred in.
16:42And everything seems evenly mixed.
16:44We'll go ahead and cover this.
16:45And then still on medium heat.
16:47We will cook this for 5 minutes.
16:49And yes I should have mentioned this earlier.
16:51But whatever pan or pot you decide to cook this in.
16:53Should have a nice tight fitting lid.
16:55Since we want to keep that steam and heat trapped inside.
16:58And that's it.
16:59After 5 minutes we will uncover.
17:01And we'll give this a good stir.
17:03And the amount of liquid you're seeing at the pan at this point is just about perfect.
17:07But if yours seems to be a little too dry.
17:09Go ahead and add a splash of broth or water.
17:12So there's enough moisture to finish cooking the noodles.
17:14And then what we'll do is cover it back up.
17:16And cook it for another 3 minutes.
17:19At which point it may or may not be done.
17:21Right, it depends on the noodle.
17:23So what we'll do is give it a stir and evaluate.
17:26And as I stirred this around with the spoonula.
17:28It felt right.
17:29And it looked right.
17:31But we have to be sure.
17:33So I grabbed a fork.
17:34And gave it a taste.
17:36And yes as I suspected.
17:38It was perfect.
17:39And if it is we can go ahead and reduce our heat to low.
17:42And besides tasting for the doneness.
17:44We're also of course giving it a taste for seasoning.
17:47And I decided mine needed a little more salt.
17:49And another pinch of freshly ground black pepper.
17:52So I stirred that in.
17:54And by the way when you test yours.
17:56If the noodles are still not cooked.
17:58Just simply cover it and cook it till they are.
18:00And if you have to add another splash of beef broth.
18:02Go ahead.
18:03But if you are happy with how it feels and tastes.
18:06We can move on to add the last ingredient.
18:08Which is about a half cup of sour cream.
18:11And as soon as that's stirred in.
18:13And we've given it one final taste.
18:15We should be ready to serve.
18:17And of course it goes without saying.
18:19If you want to add some different spices or herbs to this.
18:21Go for it.
18:23I mean you are after all the Fred Belednikov.
18:25Of your ground beef stroganoff.
18:27Oh and speaking of great receivers.
18:29A dish like this is a perfect catch all.
18:31For any kind of vegetable odds and ends you might have in the fridge.
18:34So feel free to adapt this to what you have on hand.
18:38But anyway I gave mine one last taste.
18:40And decided it was perfect.
18:42So I went ahead and served it up in a nice warm bowl.
18:45Oh yeah extra credit for using a warm bowl.
18:48And then to finish this off.
18:49I'm going to add a dollop of sour cream to the top.
18:52Followed by some finely and freshly sliced green onions.
18:56Or if you have them chives are also very nice.
18:59And that's it our ground beef stroganoff noodles are ready to enjoy.
19:03One pot chicken and sausage orzo.
19:06That's right I really don't make a lot of new year's resolutions.
19:09Hey if it's not broken don't fix it.
19:11But one thing I would like to do in the new year.
19:14Is share more of these delicious one pot recipes.
19:16And above and beyond that you only need one pot to make this.
19:19These type of dishes tend to be very simple and fast to make.
19:23So let's go ahead and get started with the browning of the sausage.
19:26So what we'll do is we'll place a pot over medium high heat.
19:29And in just a little bit of olive oil we're going to brown some spicy Italian sausage.
19:33And you can use the bulk stuff if you want.
19:35But all I did was remove the casings from two Italian sausages.
19:38And sort of crumble it up.
19:40And like I said we're going to want to brown this on medium high heat.
19:42And while we do we want to break it up pretty fine.
19:45And it was right about here when I remembered what a bad job.
19:47A rounded wooden spoon does at crumbling sausage meat.
19:50So I made the executive decision and switched to a flat edge wooden spatula.
19:54Which did work way better.
19:56And what we'll do is we'll continue to stir that and break it up.
19:59And cook it until it's fairly well browned.
20:01At which point it should look something very close to this.
20:04And when it does we can stop and add our chicken.
20:07So I'm going to add in two boneless skinless chicken breasts.
20:10That as you can see I cut into bite-sized pieces.
20:12And we'll stir that in and cook it for about a minute.
20:15We're not really worried about browning it.
20:16We just want it to mingle with those sausage fats.
20:19To pick up a little bit of that flavor before we add the rest of the ingredients.
20:22And unlike the sausage this chicken meat isn't seasoned.
20:25So I will toss in a little bit of salt at this point.
20:28And I should mention I almost always use chicken thigh for this.
20:31But this time I did go with the breast.
20:33Because I know a lot of you are going to use that anyway.
20:35But anyway we'll get into that later.
20:38Like I said we're going to cook that chicken stirring for about a minute.
20:40At which point we can add our chicken broth.
20:42Or of course chicken stock.
20:44In this context those things are synonymous.
20:46And sure if you have to use water go ahead.
20:49But only if you have to.
20:50Do not use water on purpose.
20:52And we'll give that a stir.
20:54And of course if there was any caramelization on the bottom.
20:56That will have been deglazed.
20:58And all that tastiness will go into the liquid.
21:01And then besides the broth we also want about a half a cup of tomato sauce.
21:04I really don't want this to be a tomato sauce per se.
21:07But I do want a little bit here.
21:09For some color and some acidity to help balance the other flavors.
21:12So we'll stir that in.
21:14And we will raise our heat to high.
21:16And bring this up to a simmer.
21:17And while we're waiting for that to happen.
21:19Let's go ahead and grab our orzo.
21:21And if you've never seen it before it is a beautiful rice shaped pasta.
21:25That's also sometimes referred to as melon seed pasta.
21:28Orzo I've heard.
21:31Oh yeah first pun of the new year.
21:34Don't worry they get worse.
21:36And what we'll do as soon as our mixture comes to a simmer.
21:38Is toss in our orzo.
21:40Along with some more salt.
21:41And we will stir that in.
21:43And then here's the deal.
21:44What we'll do is we'll lower our heat down to medium.
21:47And we'll cook this stirring for about 10 to 12 minutes.
21:50Or until the pasta is cooked and most of the liquid is absorbed.
21:54And if everything goes according to plan.
21:55Those two things should happen about the same time.
21:58And we don't necessarily have to stir constantly.
22:01But we do want to stir it very often.
22:02Because this mixture is going to start to thicken up.
22:04And because we are on medium heat and that's bubbling pretty good.
22:07We don't want it to stick and burn to the bottom.
22:09So keep it moving.
22:11Keep an eye on it.
22:12And this is what mine looked like about halfway through.
22:15You can see that pasta is starting to swell up.
22:18And the mixture is definitely getting thicker.
22:20And by the way something I'll mention on the blog post.
22:22But you might want to keep an extra splash of broth handy.
22:25In case all the liquid gets absorbed before your pasta is tender.
22:28Which in that case you can throw in an extra splash.
22:30Okay?
22:31But anyway like I said we're going to cook that for about 10 to 12 minutes.
22:34Until our pasta is just about tender.
22:36And most of that liquid has been absorbed.
22:38At which point it should look something like this.
22:41And of course we could go just by looks.
22:44But that would be kind of crazy.
22:45Since a much better idea would be to take a spoon.
22:48And actually try some.
22:50So I gave mine a taste.
22:51And I confirmed that it was cooked perfectly.
22:53Which for me is about 95% tender.
22:56Because even though we're going to turn off the heat and do the final couple steps.
22:58It's still going to continue to cook a little bit.
23:01But anyway when we've decided our pasta is cooked long enough.
23:03We're going to turn off the heat.
23:05And we're going to dump in a nice handful of fresh Reggiano Parmesan.
23:09And we'll stir that in.
23:11And then besides some nice real Italian cheese.
23:13I'm also going to add some fresh herb.
23:15So I'm going to toss in a little bit of finely and freshly sliced chives.
23:19And I know those aren't technically an herb.
23:21But technically who cares.
23:23And then we'll also do some freshly chopped Italian parsley.
23:26And once we stir that in we are pretty much done.
23:29And I say pretty much because we're never really done until we give it the final taste.
23:34So we'll go ahead and we'll sample a little bit.
23:35Mostly checking for salt.
23:37And once we're happy with how that tastes.
23:38We can go ahead and dish that up.
23:41And I know what you're thinking.
23:42That looks amazing.
23:43Let's just eat it as is.
23:44Well we could.
23:46But let's not.
23:47Because how I really think you should finish this is with a nice spoon.
23:50Of fresh creamy ricotta cheese.
23:52And not only is this going to provide the always important visual contrast.
23:56But it will also provide a contrast in texture and temperature.
24:00So while optional that dollop is highly recommended.
24:02And we will top that with a little more Italian parsley.
24:05And that's it.
24:07Our one pot chicken and sausage orzo is done.
24:11One step chicken noodle soup.
24:14That's right I have a cold.
24:15So I really want some homemade chicken noodle soup.
24:18Except the problem with that is when you have a cold you don't feel like making a soup.
24:21So what I decided to do since I had all the ingredients around.
24:24Was compromise.
24:25And make some homemade chicken noodle soup.
24:27But using the I don't feel good and have no energy one step method.
24:31Yes believe it or not I just dumped everything in a pot to see what would happen.
24:34And this my friends is exactly what happened.
24:37So what I did is took a cold saucepan.
24:39And I dumped in some raw cubed up chicken.
24:42And normally I would definitely use chicken thigh for this.
24:45But I had some breasts.
24:46And I know that's what you people usually use.
24:48So I went with the breast.
24:50And then to that we'll add a small handful of raw pasta.
24:53And as you can probably see I went with a corkscrew shaped egg noodle here.
24:56And I know it doesn't look like much.
24:57But as you'll see a little bit goes a long way in this.
25:00And then we'll also go ahead and toss in our aromatic vegetables.
25:03Which would include some onions, celery and carrots.
25:06And because I was going with this possibly ridiculous I don't feel good one step method.
25:10I made sure those veggies were cut nice and small and or thin.
25:13Since we're not going to do any sautéing here.
25:16And then after our veggies we're going to do a little bit of ketchup.
25:19As well as a thyme sprig.
25:21Because I have it right outside my window.
25:23We will also season this up with some salt, freshly ground black pepper and cayenne.
25:29Well that's good for you if you got a cold.
25:31You're definitely going to want to eat some cayenne.
25:33And then last but not least.
25:34Because we're obviously not roasting the chicken and making a broth from scratch.
25:37We will go ahead and dump in some carton broth.
25:40But make sure it's all natural and organic and really nice quality.
25:43And the one I used was several of those things.
25:46And then what my plan was here was to place this over medium high heat.
25:49And bring it up to a simmer.
25:51And then I figured I would just cook it stirring occasionally.
25:54Until hopefully it turned into something like chicken noodle soup.
25:57And I'm not going to lie as this came up to temperature I was getting very pessimistic.
26:01Since it wasn't looking too good.
26:03But as it heated through and started to simmer.
26:06It got even worse.
26:07Man was it looking bad.
26:09And no I didn't even bother to skim.
26:11I just didn't have the energy.
26:13Although the official reason is I didn't want to lose any nutrients.
26:16And by the way that's just a looks thing.
26:18You don't have to skim foam for safety reasons.
26:21But anyway what I did is gave that a stir.
26:23And reduced the heat down to medium low.
26:25And continued simmering stirring occasionally.
26:28Until my veggies were nice and soft and tender.
26:30And my noodles were fully cooked and then some.
26:33This is not something you want al dente noodles in.
26:35Okay I wanted my pasta fully bloomed and almost dumpling like.
26:39And as it cooked it did get nominally better looking.
26:42I mean I figured it was going to be cloudy.
26:43Because we're putting all these raw ingredients in and the raw pasta.
26:46But since this was the first time I'd ever tried something like this.
26:49I had no idea what to expect.
26:51So I kept it cooking on medium low heat.
26:54And right here my noodles were getting pretty close.
26:56But like I said I did want those noodles soft.
26:59So I let it go.
27:00Until right about here I gave it a taste.
27:02And decided it was perfect.
27:04So in case you're wondering mine simmered for about 35 minutes total.
27:08But as always your results may vary.
27:10Which is why you're going to test it.
27:11Not only for doneness but also for seasoning.
27:14You are after all the Kevin Kline of I was too sick to think of a rhyme.
27:18And then once I decided this had cooked long enough.
27:20I decided to finish up with a little bit of freshly chopped Italian parsley.
27:24And in case some of you're wondering doesn't this make it a two-step soup now?
27:28No it's actually still one step.
27:30I mean come on who are you going to believe me or your lying eyes?
27:34So I stirred in some parsley and gave it a final taste for salt.
27:38And then once our soup is feeling and tasting exactly how we want.
27:40We'll go ahead and serve that up.
27:42Into some hot bowls.
27:44And then I garnish with a little extra pinch of parsley.
27:46Which helped improve the visual appearance zero amount.
27:49But I'm still happy with my decision.
27:51And as the old saying goes looks like hell but tastes like heaven.