crock pot lasagne: notes

[thanate]

I have been experimenting with transforming oven recipes into things that can go into the crock pot and thus not involve heating up the oven on 90+ degree days at dinnertime. So far, the oven produces better results, but the crock pot options are perfectly edible.

Lasagne notes for next time:

*putting in uncooked noodles is a good thing, but remember that they will expand by perhaps 10%

*yes, I do want to add extra water-- probably to the spaghetti sauce-- to account for the noodles: try maybe 1/2 to 3/4 cup to start?

*preferred cook time on low is probably between 3 to 4 hours. If layering earlier, plan to reduce the cooking time (probably), and make sure you have enough space for the crock pot liner in the fridge before you begin.

*Alternately, an hour or two on high might be worth a try in the interests of melty cheese?
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Also, most of the pea plants have scorched & died, and the few that remain with peas on them are no longer horribly bitter. So... not sure what that was about. They almost look like someone hit them with herbicide by mistake, but I can't quite see how that would have happened.

Comments

[tamnonlinear.livejournal.com]

Anytime I've tried to do anything noodly in the crockpot, I end up with a solidified mass of noodle-related substance. How do you avoid a unified noodle brigade from forming?

[thanate.livejournal.com]

In this case, by doing the whole layered lasagne thing (sauce (meat & veg optional), single layer of noodles, cheese(s) of choice, single layer of noodles, repeat, end with layer of sauce) with noodles uncooked, and then not cooking it for ever & ever. What I just did cooked for about 5.5 hours on low, and ended up with slightly overdone noodles and very little moisture left in the sauce & cheeses, hence the modifications.

If you're trying to do a noodle soup or whatnot, cook everything else normally and then add the noodles for the last hour. Otherwise you will end up with glutinous dumpling soup.

[fishy1.livejournal.com]

my peas are all shriveledy up from the bottom, but still have a few (not bitter) teeny pods on top.