Easy Spaghetti Bake Recipe with No Boiling
Ingredients:
1 pound ground beef 1 large onion, chopped 1 bell pepper, chopped (I like yellow or red) 3 cloves garlic, minced 1 14-oz can diced tomatoes 1 8-oz can tomato sauce 1 1/2 cups water 2 tsp Italian seasoning 1 tsp salt 1/2 tsp pepper 8 ounces uncooked spaghetti 1/4 cup parmesan cheese 1 cup grated mozzarella cheese
How to make a Spaghetti Bake without boiling the pasta:
Place beef, onion and pepper in skillet and cook over medium-high heat until beef is browned. Drain off excess grease, if necessary. Add in garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add seasoning, tomato and ONE CUP of the water to skillet and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Break strands of spaghetti into thirds and place in the bottom of a 13×9 baking dish. Pour the 1/2 cup of remaining water over the pasta. Spread beef mixture over the pasta. Cover tightly with aluminum foil. Bake 40 minutes. Add in parmesan and mozzarella cheese. Bake and additional 10 minutes. Stir before serving to distribute the cheese.
But it can. In fact, you don’t even need much water to prepare perfectly delicious, al dente pasta; instead, you can simply cook the pasta in the sauce you intend to serve it with.
Without a drop of boiling water in sight, the mixture simmers for about 20 minutes, allowing the squash to cook, the sauce to thicken, and the pasta to magically become al dente.
That’s how we came up with our most recent weeknight meal, a creamy no-boil pasta dish topped with crispy Italian sausage and cubes of sweet butternut squash. It is prepared by first browning the sausage in a large, heavy pot (a Dutch oven works well for this), then adding a little flour to make a roux. Milk, cream, water, and a significant amount of grated Parmesan are added to the pot. If you’re making this on a weeknight, pre-peeled squash cubes are a lifesaver. Add uncooked pasta along with diced butternut squash, a little grated garlic, sage leaves, salt, and nutmeg.
The simplicity of this technique is its economy: not having to boil the pasta separately saves a significant amount of time and also—and this is the deal-breaker for me—dramatically reduces the amount of dishes you’ll have to do after dinner. Additionally, the starches from the pasta dissolve into the sauce and serve as a natural thickener.
For baked pastas like this lasagna or a baked penne dish, the no-boil method works well. However, you can cook pasta on the stovetop while it’s still in its sauce for a quicker alternative that’s suitable for weeknights.
FAQ
Can you cook spaghetti without boiling?
But it can. Actually, you don’t even need a lot of water to prepare perfectly delicious, al dente pasta; instead, you can simply cook the pasta in the sauce you’re going to serve it with.
Can you cook pasta without boiling water first?
Cover pasta with cold water in a relatively small pot. Put it over a burner. As it heats up, stir it a couple of times, then leave it alone. And it comes out perfectly fine.
How do you make pasta sauce without boiling?
The secret is to cook your noodles in your sauce right in there. It may sound a little strange, but adding uncooked noodles and a little extra liquid to the sauce results in a straightforward and delectable one-pot meal.
How do I cook spaghetti noodles without a stove?
Yes, it is possible to cook pasta in the microwave. Place your pasta in a microwave-safe bowl, cover with water, and cook in the microwave on High for 3 additional minutes, or until the pasta is al dente, following the directions on the package. Drain and stir in your favourite pasta sauce.
