A Look at Making Pasta in the Crock Pot

Perfect pasta can be made using your crock-pot. With a few tips, you will get delicious pasta every time. There are many different ways to make pasta with crock-pot recipes. It all depends on what recipe you are making.

Cooking Pasta as a Separate Step

In some recipes, it is recommended to cook your pasta completely before adding it to your recipe. Alternatively, your crock-pot contents might be served on a bed of noodles. You may find this works well with stroganoff, roasted meats with sauces, and other similar recipes.

Some recipes may ask you to partially cook your pasta in boiling water until it is just barely tender. They then suggest adding the semi-cooked pasta to the crock-pot for the last half hour or so of cooking. You may use this technique with dishes like chicken Alfredo, casseroles and other meals. This method allows the noodles to finish cooking in the crock-pot, soaking up some of the flavors in the sauce.

Making the pasta separately is more work than just using the crock-pot. However, taking the time to boil your water and cook the pasta just right gives you perfect noodles when you need them. This technique is not appropriate for all recipes, however.

Everything in the Crock-Pot at Once

Some recipes that you find for the crock-pot call for uncooked pasta. They mean less work for you, though in most cases the pasta is still added in towards the end. This technique works well for homemade chicken noodle soup, ramen, or goulash. Standard types of pasta should be added to your crock-pot about half an hour to an hour before serving. If you are making a ramen soup, the thin noodles only take about 10 to 15 minutes to cook if your crock-pot is on the high setting.

You will also find recipes that need the pasta added at the very beginning. An example of this type of dish would be crock-pot lasagna. Macaroni and cheese is also nice and creamy in the crock-pot, but it is a dish that only takes about 90 minutes to 2 hours to cook. Leaving it any longer will result in mushy noodles. Baked ziti, stuffed shells, and thicker casseroles will have this requirement. Watch your cooking time, because these dishes often do not take all day to cook. Overcooked noodles will be soft and shapeless.

Pasta does just fine in the crock-pot. All you need to do for success is to use the right approach for each recipe. Pasta is more delicate than something like beans are, so keep an eye on the cooker until you know how the recipe will work. Sometimes it may take a few times to get it right.

You will soon be feeding your family delicious meals featuring pasta from your crock-pot. Pasta is true comfort food, and it has never been easier then when you master the skill of simple slow cooked pasta dish that the family will just adore. So next time you make pasta instead of leaving the crock-pot to collect dust in the cupboard take it out and discover how easy crock-pot pasta is.