Everlane sweater xxs, J.Crew SLIM PANTS 24 petite, Edited Pieces belt xxs, AT headband
My mom is visiting this week which means something delicious is always cooking, steaming, or baking! And hands down, the Always Pan is one of the most loved tools in our kitchen, plus happens to be one of our favorite gifts to give. If you’re interested in the new Perfect Pot and the pan, they sell them together as a bundle. They gave me code EXTRAPETITE10 for 10% off your purchase.
The Always Pan has made frequent appearances on our cooking stories since over a year ago, and was a huge hit when we bought it for both my MIL and my mom last Christmas. My mom has already announced that she wouldn’t mind a second pan this year, along with the Spruce steamer! She uses her pan daily for sautéing veggies and stir fries, steaming Asian dishes (like spareribs, steamed egg) and it presents beautifully from stovetop to dinner table, so saves having to wash a serving dish.
We also love that the Always Pan comes with an insert tray with handles for steaming (which I use all the time for the kids’ food or reheating leftovers), plus a wooden spatula that rests on top of the handle button. The oven-safe Perfect Pot was a new release this year and is generously sized, with a notched wooden spoon that nests on the pot handles, a pour spout with a little strainer built into the lid (perfect for cooking pasta), and a roasting rack that can also be used for steaming!
We love the versatility of the pan and use it to make all types of dishes like Nick’s Filipino chicken adobo and dairy free chicken tikka masala. It’s been a minute since we’ve shared a recipe here on the blog, so I wanted to add another easy one to our Extra (Ap)Petite series. I’ve shown this before on IG stories, but this seafood pasta is one of our go-to’s whenever we need to impress family or company with minimal effort!
Easy Seafood Pasta
Ingredients
- 1 lb seafood of your choice. We do a mix of shrimp, diver scallops, calamari cut into rings.
- 4 cloves chopped garlic
- 1 can diced tomatoes (we buy the ones pre-seasoned with garlic & basil, if available)
- 1 zucchini, sliced into discs (optional)
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste or ketchup
- salt, pepper, sugar to taste
- dash fish sauce (for adding depth!)
- 1/2 box pasta. Our preference is DeCecco brand.
- grated parmesan cheese or dairy free sub
Instructions
- In a separate pot, start boiling water and cook the pasta. Reserve a little pasta water when draining the cooked pasta.
- While waiting for pasta water to boil, sauté seafood in olive oil over medium heat with some of the fresh garlic, salt and pepper.
- Once cooked through, remove the seafood from heat and set it aside in a bowl. Save all the seafood liquid / juices from the pan as well, in a bowl.
- Sauté the optional sliced zucchini in olive oil in the pan. Remove from heat and let the zucchini join the seafood in a bowl.
- Sauté the remaining fresh garlic in olive oil over low-medium heat. Once fragrant, add the can of diced tomatoes and tomato paste, and season with salt, pepper, and sugar to taste.
- Stir in the reserved seafood liquid (from sautéing the seafood earlier) and a dash of fish sauce. Bring to a low simmer for at least 10 minutes, adding the pre-cooked seafood and zucchini back in at the end.
- Toss the cooked pasta into the sauce pan until coated, adding in a little pasta water if needed.
- Garnish with grated parmesan cheese, optional fresh basil, and serve hot!
Thank you to Our Place for partnering on this post.
I’ve been eyeballing the Always Pot for sometime. That $50 is was just what I needed to get it. Thank you Jean.
Hope you love it, Val!
I have six kids and one one due in March. They range from teen to preschooler and all of them adore your recipes. In fact, they help me make many of them. From the chocolate zucchini cupcakes, garlic noodles with shrimp, to the Vietnamese Pork all your recipes are so good and easily adjusted to double and triple.
Oh Megan, that makes me so happy to hear that all of your kiddos enjoy our recipes and how sweet that they’re good helpers in the kitchen too!
How does the nonstick coating hold up after a year of use? I’m considering buying but I’ve heard mixed reviews about the coating and the comfort of the handle. Thanks!
We follow the instructions closely and only use it over low medium heat, which is what we usually do anyways for dishes anyways, and the nonstick still works well, but I have heard from readers and read reviews that theirs has faded.
I also wouldn’t recommend using this pan to fry potsticker dumplings, since that didn’t work for me, but we truly do enjoy using it for most other dishes we cook!
Hi! I was so excited to see the Always Pot on your IG post this morning. I’m looking for a 5.5 qt pot for our family of four…how would you compare this with a traditional Dutch oven? Thanks so much!
Hi Holly, I’m so sorry for having missed your question! I think a traditional dutch oven is such a classic – a piece of cookware that will suit every kitchen so I don’t think you can go wrong there. But depending on the specific uses you want in a pot, one may serve your needs better over the other. I love how a traditional dutch oven feels super sturdy like one solid piece of iron , but for someone with weaker arms like myself it’s super heavy in the 5.5qt size if you plan on taking it in and out of the oven or filling it up with water from the sink, etc. The always pot is much lighter in comparison, and if you want to use it to make pasta or boil other things, it comes with a spout and a small strainer in the lid to drain the liquid. Like a traditional dutch oven, the handles get hot so you need to make sure to use gloves when handling it. Hope this helps!