Day 84.
I was hungry for a big bowl of pasta over the weekend. I haven't experimented with making pasta in the crockpot too much. I did make a lasagna earlier in the year that came out perfectly, and was interested in trying other noodles.
Although this could use some tweaking, the end result was what I was after.
The Ingredients.
--1 bag of your favorite pasta --I used Trader Joe's Brown Rice penne
--1 jar of marinara sauce
--any vegetables you might want to throw in. We only had a few leftover sliced mushrooms.
--cheese odds and ends. I used some shredded Mexican blend, some shredded parmesan and two string cheeses.
The Directions.
--rinse pasta in a colander (just so there's some added moisture)
--add a handful of pasta and a bit of sauce to your crockpot stoneware insert
--put in a bit of cheese
--keep layering ingredients in until you run out
--cover and cook on low for 4-5 hours. This took 4 hours in my Rival Smart Pot.
The Verdict.
I was pleased that the pasta was tender in the middle. The pasta that hit the sides and the stuff on top was pretty crunchy. Adam suggested (a bit too late) that maybe I should have sprayed some cooking spray on the inside of the stoneware before layering in the ingredients. I think that would have helped. I think next time I might add 2 T of water to the very top noodles to keep them a bit more tender.
I'm also thinking some meat added to the mix would help with a touch more moisture.
Even though we didn't eat the crunchy noodles, there was plenty of food for the four of us, with leftovers to spare.
I need to try some macaroni and cheese!
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