Can I Make The Slow-Cooker Lamb And Pasta Without Pasta?

Our answer

NIgella's Slow-Cooker Lamb And Pasta is an easy dinner solution as the meat sauce can cook slowly during the day and then the pasta can be added just for the last 25 minutes of cooking time. The recipe serves 6-8 people.

It should be possible to cook just the meat sauce in the slow-cooker and then freeze the sauce in convenient portions. Pasta will usually absorb between 1.5x and 2x its own weight in water, which would suggest that you do not need to add any water at all to the slow cooker. However, to make sure that you get all of the tomatoey juices out of the emptied cans of tomatoes we would suggest using 50-60ml (3-4 tablespoons) water to swill out the tomato cans. In addition, slow cooking often works better with a little more liquid, though the meat will also release some of its own juices during cooking. Cook for 6 1/2 hours then transfer to airtight containers and cool then chill or freeze as quickly as possible and within 2 hours of cooking. Freeze for up to 3 months and thaw overnight in the fridge before reheating. If the sauce has too much liquid then you can simmer to reduce it when you reheat the sauce. The Italians have a technique called mantecatura, where pasta is cooked in boiling water until just al dente. At the same time the pasta sauce is reheated in a wide saucepan, deep frying pan or sauté pan. Once the pasta has cooked, it is drained and added to the sauce and the two are cooked together for a couple of minutes, with splashes of pasta cooking water added to bring everything together. If the sauce needs reducing slightly, then you can simmer it in a the pan as it reheats, then add the cooked and drained al dente pasta and cook for a couple of minutes longer, adding a little pasta cooking water if the dish gets too dry.