Slow Cooker Italian Pasta

We had a "CrockPotLuck" at church today, with everyone asked to bring a favorite dish made in a slow cooker. Our wonderful kitchen committee would provide all the homemade desserts, as well as biscuits, corn, bread, rolls and vegetable and fruit trays. Truly a feast to be thankful for.

Though the weather has been warm for mid-November in Minnesota, it seemed likely that there would be quite a few chilis and soups, so I decided to try for something a little different. Looking at the cupboard, I decided on a vegetarian pasta dish. However, I knew this could be a little challenging, since pasta has a way of getting overcooked, mushy, and unattractive if not handled carefully in the slow cooker.

The following recipe turned out beautifully. The method does need to be followed pretty closely, even if you change the amounts of the various ingredients. I would not advise cooking this, even on LOW, for more than 3 to 4 hours. It could be kept on the WARM setting for many cookers for another hour or so. The goal is to avoid ending up with pasta that is mushy, having absorbed all the sauce and leaving a pretty dry, pasty mixture. If in doubt, you might want to try making this or some other pasta dish in the slow cooker at home before planning to take it to the next office or church potluck!

I have added a few notes after the main recipe to adjust for some of the substitutions.

Slow Cooker Vegetarian Fettuccini

canola oil
1 large onion, chopped (about 1 to 2 cups)
1 stalk celery, including leaves, diced (about 1/2 to 1 cup)
1/2 green or red bell pepper, diced (about 1/2 cup)
3 to 4 large cloves garlic, minced
1 small to medium zucchini, grated (about 2 cups)
8 oz baby mushrooms, sliced
2 c cauliflower, broken into tiny flowerets
1 c pureed roasted butternut squash (or 8 oz pkg frozen)
28 to 32 oz prepared spaghetti sauce
15 oz can garbanzo beans--do not drain
15 oz can dark red kidney beans--do not drain
1 to 2 t dried oregano, to taste
1 t dried basil, to taste
1 t Italian seasoning, to taste
black pepper to taste
1 T balsamic vinegar (optional)
1 lb fettuccine pasta, broken into 2 to 3 inch pieces
6 to 8 oz pasteurized processed cheese, cubed
parmesan cheese (optional)

1.  Saute the onion, celery, and green pepper in a small amount of oil over medium high heat, stirring occasionally. When the onions are translucent and starting to brown, stir in the grated zucchini and garlic. Continue to saute for another 5 to 10 minutes, until the zucchini begins to soften. Turn this mixture into a 5 to 6 quart slow cooker and begin heating on LOW.

2.  Pour a little more oil into the same pan used for the onions and heat to medium high. Add the mushrooms and cook  until the slices are golden and limp. Add these to the slow cooker as well. Pour a few tablespoons of water into the pan and stir to "deglaze" the pan--use a spatula to scrape the bottom of the pan and pour these juices and scrapings into the slow cooker too.

3.  Stir in the mini-cauliflowerets, the squash, spaghetti sauce, and beans. Rinse out each can or jar with a few tablespoons of water and add to the mixture in the slow cooker. Add the herbs and taste for seasoning.

 4.  Bring a pot of water to a boil and add the pasta. Cook only until the pasta has barely begun to soften, perhaps only 2 to 3 minutes. It should still be very firm and stiff. Drain, reserving the cooking water.

5.  Stir the pasta into the vegetable mixture, along with the cubed processed cheese. The mixture should be quite "soupy." If necessary, add a little of the pasta cooking water. Taste again for seasoning, adding the vinegar and more herbs or salt as needed.

6.  Cover and cook on LOW for 2 to 4 hours--no longer. If desired, top each serving with Parmesan cheese.

If the mixture thickens too much, add more spaghetti sauce, a little tomato sauce or just a few teaspoons of water.

This recipe serves 12 to 14 and can be frozen. If your plan is to save some for later, it would be best to set that amount aside before cooking in the slow cooker.

Adjustments:

Frozen cauliflower can be substituted for fresh, but this should be added only about 20 minutes before serving

Frozen zucchini can be used, but this should just be added to the slow cooker without simmering with the onions.

Two 4 ounce cans of sliced or diced mushrooms, including liquid, can be  substituted for fresh, adding along with  the  other ingredients in Step 3.

Chicken "Casseroles" -- Some Ideas

When my kids were young, we had the same menu item perhaps two or three (or more!) nights as week: "Casserole." (If we had lived in Minnesota back then, it probably would have been "hot dish.") However, my goal was never to serve the same meal two times in the same week, and I was usually able to accomplish that. The point is that, for a busy family, these one dish meals can be a wonderful time and money saver without ever becoming boring.

Since my last post focused on chicken and mirepoix, here's the plan using those two ingredients. When you broaden out to pork, ground beef or turkey, ham, and vegetarian options, you could go for weeks without ever duplicating a meal.

First...
The Nutrition Background

By now you've probably heard it dozens of times: Balanced meals should include mostly vegetables, then carbohydrates, then protein--the British call it the "healthy plate." Basically, only a quarter of the meal should be the meat/protein source, with another quarter carbs, and half vegetables (and fruit, with vegetables predominant). Keeping this in mind, here is how some of your "casserole" meals should work out:

Meat
A one cup (8 oz or so) container of chicken really does include enough for a family of four, especially if there are other sources of protein included in the meal--glasses of milk, some cheese or beans in the casserole or diced into a side salad, etc.



Carbohydrate
Think of all the ways you have been served chicken--with rice, pasta, potatoes, and bread. These are the "basic" carbs we Americans tend to use, so you already have at least four different ways to use that chicken.

Vegetables
Here is where a lot of families get bogged down. If any (or all) of the adults in the family are averse to veggies, it will be a challenge to get the kids to get too excited about this part of the meal, but a casserole often provides ways to ease the family into more healthy eating. The mirepoix is actually a good place to start, even if it doesn't provide a full serving of vegetables for each person.

Now...Some ideas:

The following list starts with a cup or so of pre-cooked, boned chicken and as much of the mirepoix as you prefer for each dish. If you are starting out with unseasoned chicken, you will be able to add your own preferences to each combination.

These are not recipes so much as ideas for ways to build main dishes adapted to your own family preferences, grouped by the kind of carbohydrate you might use with the chicken.

Rice:
Chicken, rice, mirepoix, peas or broccoli, with some melted American cheese as the sauce; a splash of Worcestershire sauce can add a little more flavor as well

Chicken, rice, mirepoix, broccoli, snap peas, bell peppers, etc., with soy sauce and other Chinese, Thai, or Vietnamese seasonings your family prefers

Chicken, rice, mirepoix, corn, bell peppers, black or kidney beans, and chili powder and/or taco or enchilada sauce

Chicken, rice, mirepoix, French cut green beans or tiny peas or other green vegetables, a basic cream sauce with wine, and some very "French" herbs--savory, tarragon, etc.

Pasta:
Chicken, "mac and cheese" as per your family's favorite recipe, mirepoix, and lots of peas, beans, mixed vegetables, broccoli, etc.

Chicken, fettucine, mirepoix, cream sauce, and green beans or other green vegetables

Chicken, rice noodles, mirepoix, mixed "Oriental vegetables" and soy sauce or other Chinese, Thai, or Vietnamese sauces

Chicken, rotini or other fun-shaped pasta, mirepoix, spaghetti sauce, topped with Parmesan--this is a good place to drop in some peas, green beans, or "mixed vegetables" for kids who are otherwise vegetable-averse

Chicken, lasagna noodles, mirepoix, spinach, and the rest of your usual lasagna recipe ingredients

Potatoes:
Chicken, sliced potatoes, mirepoix (with extra onions), cream sauce and broccoli or frozen chopped spinach--upgrading your scalloped potato recipe

Chicken, mashed potatoes, mirepoix, some of the chicken stock made into gravy, and mixed vegetables of your choice--turn this into a shepherd's pie by combining all the other ingredients, spreading the potatoes over the top and then sprinkling with Cheddar cheese before baking just long enough to get a golden crust

OR--turn the shepherd's pie upside down--mix the potatoes with some cheese and an egg and spread in a well-oiled dish. Bake until this "crust" turns golden brown while you combine the chicken with vegetables and gravy or a cream sauce. Put the chicken mixture into the crust and sprinkle with seasoned breadcrumbs and/or grated cheese if desired

Chicken, diced potatoes, mirepoix, white beans or lentils, and other "stew vegetables" with some chicken broth and sage, poultry seasoning, or other herbs to make a hearty chicken stew

"Potato lasagna"--chicken, sliced, pre-cooked, potatoes, mirepoix, spaghetti sauce, chopped spinach or broccoli, oregano, Italian seasoning, and fennel seeds, ricotta and mozzarella cheese--layer the potatoes as you would lasagna noodles along with the other ingredients. Caution--this will NOT taste like "real" lasagna, but it will suit the tastes of those who especially like Italian flavors

Breads:
Chicken, finely diced, "raw" mirepoix--grated raw carrot along with diced onion and celery to taste--and perhaps even some finely grated cabbage and/or diced bell pepper, all mixed with your favorite salad dressing to taste and served on hard rolls. (Okay, I know, this is a sandwich, not a "casserole." Still, it's a fine use for these ingredients and yet another meal option.)

Combine this same "chicken salad" filling with some elbow or shell macaroni, perhaps with some black olives, radishes, or hard boiled egg slices, for a summer pasta salad that is, after all, just a cold "casserole," right?

Though not really a casserole, don't forget pizza with chicken as a topping. For this, stir some mirepoix into the sauce to up the vegetable content or just spread it over the top. Include broccoli or other vegetables that your family especially likes as well.

Chicken, mirepoix, in a cream or gravy sauce with broccoli, cauliflower, carrot slices, sugar peas, bell pepper, etc., topped with a biscuit crust

Chicken, leftover (or newly made) stuffing, mirepoix and a cream or gravy sauce with vegetables of your choice. The stuffing can be spread in a well-oiled dish and baked just enough to form a crust before topping with the chicken and vegetables layer, OR the chicken and vegetable mixture can be put in the pan and then the stuffing spread over the top before heating to bubbly in either the oven or the microwave

Chicken, mirepoix, black or pinto beans, chili powder, cumin, corn, green chiles, diced yams or butternut squash, chopped cilantro, and a cream or gravy based sauce, stirred together and layered in a casserole dish with Monterrey Jack or other white cheese and whole wheat tortillas. This one is best if made ahead and allowed to sit in the refrigerator for a few hours or overnight.


By my count, the suggestions above could serve for at least three weeks of non-stop chicken meals--not that any of us would want to do that! Just think, however, how far they could take you if you planned to serve chicken with vegetables and some kind of carbohydrate just a couple of times a week. And while it may seem that the inclusion of mirepoix in all of these is unnecessary, by considering this as an "ingredient" that you can make ahead and have ready in the refrigerator, just think of the time that pre-preparation might save on especially busy nights.

(One more comment: Turkey is easily substituted in just about any of these ideas as well--a good thing to remember when trying to decide what to do with all those leftovers.)

I would love to hear of some of the other ways your family enjoys one-dish chicken meals, along with your own time-saving ideas.