Monday, July 30, 2012

A Crock Pot Love Affair: Gluten-Free Crock Pot Pasta

My husband has been spending so much time working on the house I have taken to calling it "the mistress".  But, in all fairness, I have a love affair of my own...with my crock pot.  Even though I complain about not having a functioning kitchen, I have secretly love getting creative with crock pot cooking.  I have tried roasts, vegetables, pastas, and even desserts in the crock pot with a fair amount of success.  There is something magical about mixing together a creative group of ingredients in the morning, turning on the crock pot, and coming home from work to a delicious dinner.

Today, I was having a serious craving for pasta.  But we were almost out of butane for our little camp store.  Even though I have not done much in the way of pasta in the crock pot, I decided to give it a go.

I decided to make a traditional pasta dish with marinara sauce and, while the results were not perfect,  we ended up with a really great dinner.  All it needs is a little tweaking for gluten-free perfection!

To start, you will need:
  • 1 box (12 oz) of your favorite gluten-free pasta (we like Schar Gluten-Free Fusilli)
  • 1 jar of marinara sauce
  • Your favorite vegetables, chopped (any mix from mushrooms to peppers to eggplant would work for this recipe; I chose zucchini)
  • 8 oz of mozzarella, shredded
  • About 1 1/2 cups of shredded parmesan (you can add more or less depending on your preference)
  • Crushed red peppers (optional)
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced (optional)
  • Gluten-free cooking spray (Pam Original is gluten-free, but their baking spray is not)
Soak the past in a pot of lukewarm water for about 3-5 min; then drain.  While the the pasta is soaking, reduce the pasta sauce over low-heat for about five minutes.  While it is reducing, I like to add crushed red peppers and minced garlic to give the sauce a little bite.  But this is totally optional.  Once the sauce is done, remove it from the heat. Coat your crock pot with the gluten-free cooking spray. Then, add about a half-cup of the sauce to the bottom of the pot, spreading evenly.  Once the sauce is added, add enough pasta to cover the sauce.  Then add 1/3 of your chopped vegetables and cover those with about 1/3 of your mozzarella and about 1/4 cup of the parmesan.  Continue this process until you run out of ingredients or your pot is full. Make sure you top with all of the remaining parmesan.  Add about 2 tablespoons of water to the pot.  (I added 1/2 cup and it was a little too much).  Cook on low for 3-4 hours.  (I went over 4 hours and it was too long.)


Once the pasta is completely cooked, turn off the crock pot and remove the lid.  Let it cool for about 15 minutes as the cheese gets pretty hot.  You can easily add ground beef, turkey, sausage, or chicken to this recipe.  Just cook the meat beforehand and add it to the sauce.  Either way, this is a savory, easy, gluten-free meal that the gluten-free and gluten-eaters can enjoy!

Do you have any favorite gluten-free, crock pot recipes?  Feel free to share in the comments section!

9 comments:

  1. My gluten free pasta turned into paste/starch goo after one hour on low, inedible. :(

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  2. Am making a chicken alfredo recipe for the crockpot and am wondering if the pasta will turn to goo like this lady just said. what should I do differently with the gluten free past before cooking?klabelle5@sbcglobal.net

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  3. This looks absolutely amazing! Cannot wait to make this next week! Definitely want to try it out at our next Bimbo dinner party. Dark Web Links How to Access the Dark Web Website Traffic Estimator Best Backlink Checker Tools Play Free Games Online

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  4. Valuable information. Fortunate me I discovered your website by chance, and I’m shocked why this twist of fate did not took place earlier! I bookmarked it.Regards: Dream market

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  5. I m0ade this last night for my 16 yo twins and husband – and they loved it. So easy and perfect. Thanks for sharing.
    Joseph Donahue

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  6. Great twist on the original recipe! Thai is one of my favorite, too.
    I have all the ingredients in the house, this will be dinner tonight. Love it.
    Kelly Hubbard

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  7. If you want to spend less time just poke holes in the spaghetti squash with a fork and then cook it in the microwave. I haven’t done one in awhile but I want to say it usually takes about 20 mins. Start with 10-15 mins and check it frequently and once you can stick a fork into it easily or press it and it’s soft (with an oven mitt on!!!) it’s done. Let it cool, then cut and scoop everything out!
    Holly Hooper

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  8. I am crazy about my crock pot, I use it several times a week! I will be bookmarking this page and trying out some of these recipes because I;m sure my family is getting sick of the same ones over and over.
    Jayme Silvestri

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