Slow Cooker: The Best Cookbook Ever (13 page)

This chapter contains all those wonderful casseroles that you love to make but want to leave in the pot so you won’t have to think about them. Lasagna, tuna noodle casserole, mac and cheese, and all their cousins shine in this chapter. I love casseroles because they recycle your leftovers and become a completely different meal. Casseroles also stretch your food dollar, using starches like potatoes, pastas, and rice to bulk up the proteins in the dish. Since cooking noodles and rice from their dry state with other ingredients in the slow cooker can be a bit tricky, I recommend planning ahead by cooking extra pasta and rice and freezing them in zipper-top plastic bags. With a zap in the microwave to defrost them, you are on your way to assembling your slow-cooker casserole.

For these casseroles, I’d recommend either spraying the inside of the ceramic insert with nonstick cooking spray or using a slow-cooker liner to prevent sticking and make cleaning up easier.

Even though it’s just me and my husband at home, I still cook a pound of pasta when making it for the two of us—old habits die hard. I’ve learned to freeze the leftover plain pasta to use it later for casseroles and soups made in the slow cooker. Fresh pasta doesn’t need to be cooked before it goes into the slow cooker, but if you are adapting a favorite recipe to use fresh pasta, add extra sauce, as the pasta will absorb quite a bit while it’s cooking. Also, make sure not to cook the dry pasta too long before adding it to the slow cooker. It should be just short of al dente, or about 2 to 4 minutes short of your average cooking time, so that it won’t become mushy when it cooks again. Casseroles can be made ahead of time in slow-cooker liners and then refrigerated, or in some cases frozen, until you are ready to cook them. Your favorite chicken and noodles, mac and cheese, and lasagna will be ready when you are.

In my classes I tell a story about how, as a child, I would beg my mother to let me go to my friends’ homes on Friday nights so I could eat tuna noodle casserole. My mom didn’t have a single can of soup in her pantry and was horrified that I thought these foods were exotic and homey! When we first were married, my husband loved tuna noodle casserole. The one time I made it for him, however, the man who would eat anything asked if we could go out to dinner! I’ve come a long way since then; this tuna noodle casserole is an elegant comfort food filled with sautéed mushrooms and a delicious cream sauce. It’s a great party dish and, of course, you can substitute chicken for the tuna if you’d like.

½ pound wide egg noodles, cooked just short of al dente

Two 6-ounce cans solid white albacore tuna packed in oil, drained and broken into chunks (see savvy)

4 tablespoons (½ stick) unsalted butter

1 small onion, finely chopped (about ¼ cup)

2 stalks celery, finely chopped

8 ounces button mushrooms, sliced

¼ cup all-purpose flour

3 cups milk

4 drops Tabasco sauce

½ teaspoon salt

½ cup finely crushed potato chips

coat the insert of a 5- to 7-quart slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray or line it with a slow-cooker liner according to the manufacturer’s directions.

put the noodles and tuna in the slow-cooker insert and stir to combine. Melt the butter in a large skillet over high heat. Add the onion, celery, and mushrooms and sauté until the liquid in the pan begins to evaporate (you should still have some fat in the pan).

stir in the flour and cook for 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Gradually add the milk and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Stir in the Tabasco and salt. Transfer the contents of the skillet to the slow-cooker insert.

cover and cook on low for 4 to 5 hours. Remove the cover, sprinkle the chips over the casserole, re-cover, and cook for an additional 30 minutes.

serve from the slow cooker set on warm.

serves 6–8

tuna savvy

I find that water-packed tuna is bland, and although it may have a bit less fat, it doesn’t have much flavor. Buy the oil-packed solid albacore—you’ll be glad you did.

Lasagna can seem like a big production, but it’s really just a few components made ahead of time and then assembled. This lasagna can be put together and frozen in the slow-cooker insert until firm and then stored in a zipper-top plastic bag in the freezer for up to three months.

The Bolognese sauce can be homemade in the slow cooker or on the stovetop. This lasagna isn’t the traditional all-American version with ricotta cheese; it’s a lighter version that has creamy béchamel sauce and fresh mozzarella layered between delicate no-boil lasagna noodles.

4 tablespoons (½ stick) unsalted butter

¼ cup all-purpose flour

1½ cups chicken broth

1½ cups milk

2½ cups freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

6 cups
Bolognese Sauce
or
Mom’s Sunday Sauce

One 9-ounce box no-boil lasagna noodles

1 pound fresh mozzarella, cut into ½-inch slices

coat the insert of a 5- to 7-quart slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray or line it with a slow-cooker liner according to the manufacturer’s directions.

melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir in the flour and cook for 3 minutes, whisking constantly. Gradually add the broth and milk and bring to a boil, whisking constantly to make a béchamel sauce.

remove from the heat and stir in 1½ cups of the Parmigiano. Spoon some of the bolognese sauce on the bottom of the slow cooker, covering the bottom of the pan. Top with a layer of noodles (depending on the cooker, you may have to cut the noodles down to size). Spoon a layer of the béchamel sauce over the noodles and top with some of the mozzarella. Continue layering the bolognese sauce, noodles, béchamel sauce, and mozzarella in this order, ending with the bolognese sauce.

sprinkle the remaining 1 cup Parmigiano over the lasagna. Cover and cook on low for 4 to 5 hours, until the lasagna is bubbling. Remove the cover and cook for an additional 45 minutes.

serve from the cooker set on warm.

serves 8

Pecorino romano is a sheep’s milk cheese that is sometimes studded with peppercorns or truffles. The peppercorn variety works well in this white lasagna flavored with mushrooms, spinach, and ham.

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter

¼ cup finely chopped onion

2 cloves garlic, minced

One 16-ounce package frozen chopped spinach, defrosted and squeezed dry

1 pound cremini or white mushrooms, sliced

1½ teaspoons salt

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

¼ cup all-purpose flour

2½ cups milk

¼ cup dry white wine or vermouth

3 cups finely grated pecorino romano cheese, plus 1 cup crumbled into pea-sized pieces

One 9-ounce box no-boil lasagna noodles

4 ounces black forest ham, cut into julienne strips

coat the insert of a 5- to 7-quart slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray or line it with a slow-cooker liner according to the manufacturer’s directions.

melt half the butter in a large skillet over high heat. Add the onion and garlic and sauté until the onion is softened, about 3 minutes. Add the spinach, mushrooms, salt, and pepper and sauté until the mushrooms begin to turn golden and the spinach is dry, 5 to 7 minutes.

remove from the heat and set aside to cool. Melt the remaining butter in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir in the flour and cook for 3 minutes, whisking constantly. Add the milk and bring the sauce to a boil. Remove the sauce from the heat and stir in the wine and finely grated pecorino.

spoon one-quarter of the sauce on the bottom of the slowcooker insert. Top with a layer of noodles, cutting them to fit. Spread half the vegetables and half the ham over the noodles. Spread one-quarter of the sauce over the vegetables and ham. Sprinkle with
¹
/
₃
cup of the crumbled pecorino. Arrange a layer of noodles over the vegetables and ham, then spread the remaining vegetables, ham, one-quarter of the sauce, and
¹
/
₃
cup of the crumbled pecorino on top. Top with another layer of noodles, and spread the remaining sauce and
¹
/
₃
cup pecorino over the noodles.

cover and cook on low for 4 to 5 hours, until the lasagna is cooked through and bubbling. Remove the cover and cook for an additional 30 minutes.

serve from the cooker set on warm.

serves 8

This decadent lasagna is similar to a “Timpano,” the extravagant layered dish that was featured in the Stanley Tucci classic film
Big Night
. Although a timpano is usually encased in dough, this entrée has layers of pasta, meatballs, cheese, hard- boiled eggs, mushrooms, and sausage in a creamy red-pepper-and-vodka tomato sauce. In Calabria, cooks empty their refrigerators and pantries of food they won’t be able to eat during Lent and pile them into layered pasta dishes such as this one.

5 cups Vodka Cream Sauce (recipe follows)

1 pound penne, cooked 2 minutes short of al dente

4 cooked meatballs, quartered (next page)

4 hard-cooked eggs, sliced ½ inch thick (next page)

½ cup jarred roasted red peppers, cut into strips

4 links cooked Italian sweet sausage (see next page), cut into ½-inch rounds

8 ounces button mushrooms, sautéed (see next page) until the liquid in the pan evaporates

½ pound fresh mozzarella, cut into

½-inch cubes

1 cup freshly grated pecorino romano cheese

coat the insert of a 5- to 7-quart slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray or line it with a slow-cooker liner according to the manufacturer’s directions.

put 1½ cups of the vodka cream sauce and the penne in a large bowl and stir to coat.

spread one-third of the pasta on the bottom of the slowcooker insert. Top the pasta with a layer of the meatballs, hard-cooked eggs, and roasted peppers. Top with half of the remaining pasta, followed by a layer of the remaining sausage, the mushrooms, and mozzarella. Top with the remaining pasta.

spoon the remaining sauce evenly over the top of the lasagna and top with the grated cheese.

cover the cooker and cook on low heat for 4 to 5 hours, until the lasagna is bubbling and is cooked through.

remove the cover and cook for an additional 30 minutes.

serve the lasagna from the cooker set on warm.

serves 12

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 cup vodka

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter

One 28- to 32-ounce can crushed tomatoes

1 cup heavy cream

¼ cup finely chopped fresh Italian parsley

¼ cup finely chopped fresh basil noodles

soak the pepper flakes in the vodka for 1 hour.

strain the vodka through a fine-mesh sieve into a medium saucepan, discarding the pepper flakes. Over high heat, bring the vodka to a boil and reduce to ¼ cup.

add the butter, tomatoes, cream, parsley, and basil. Bring the sauce to a boil, stirring to combine.

makes about 5 cups

1¼ pounds ground beef

½ cup finely chopped onion

1 clove garlic, minced

Grated zest of 1 lemon

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

½ cup soft bread crumbs

1 large egg, beaten

Olive oil for frying

combine the beef, onion, garlic, lemon zest, salt, pepper, parsley, bread crumbs, and egg in a large bowl until blended. Form the mixture into small balls and set on a plate or baking sheet. At this point, you can cover and refrigerate the meatballs for up to 2 days.

heat ½ inch of oil in a large skillet until a piece of bread dropped in it begins to float and bubble. Add the meatballs a few at a time, being careful not to crowd them, and fry until browned on all sides and cooked through. Using a slotted spoon or tongs, remove the meatballs from the pan and drain on paper towels.

repeat with the remaining meatballs until they are all cooked. Cooked meatballs may be cooled and refrigerated for up to 2 days, or frozen for up to 2 months.

makes 6 meatballs