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| Tortellini pressure-cooked in sauce, ready for freezer. |
I've been doing "batch" cooking for nearly as long as I've been cooking, because it always made sense: make the effort (and the mess) once, eat well, and have a few servings tucked in the freezer for another day. When I started using a "multi-cooker" - mine is a Gourmia brand, not the famed Instant Pot - I also started cooking batches in a sequence, with two or three things different things cooked over the course of an afternoon or even a couple of hours. For example, the first thing could be plain pasta, followed by a pot of bulgur, followed by winter squash or a pot of soup.
The speed of pressure cooking is what many people seem to focus on, and it's true that once you've waited several minutes for the pressure to come up, the actual cooking times are almost incredibly short and presumably energy-efficient compared to other methods. But a major advantage for me is the kind of attention needed: intermittent. Compared to cooking in a regular pot on the stove, there isn't any hovering or stirring or keeping an eye on. This frees up bits of time for little tasks, such as slicing apples for the herd or dealing with a sliding pile of mail or folding the laundry. I'm still in the kitchen but getting extra things done in addition to restocking the fridge and freezer. It makes the entire cooking endeavor feel more efficient and productive, and I love that.
Speaking of pasta, have I mentioned my new favorite shape? After decades of rotini fandom, a trip through the Aldi markdown aisle a couple of years ago led me to cavatappi:
And because I rarely have the chance to shop in Aldi, I bought a few boxes. By the time I'd worked out the best way to cook cavatappi in the Gourmia I had also created a new way to eat pasta: with a spritz of oil, a dollop of salsa, and a sprinkling of shredded sharp cheddar melted in. I've been cooking this pasta for two years now and have yet to put pasta sauce on it.
After running out of the Aldi boxes, I started looking for cavatappi online and couldn't find it anywhere. It seemed impossible, so I visited the Barilla website and started scrolling through pictures of their many pasta products. Behold:
Here's what cavatappi or cellentani looks like when it's been pressure-cooked for 3 minutes, then frozen, then thawed:
This week, in the interest of eating cold things, I've branched out from my usual salsa and cheddar method, and used the thawed pasta for a salad with tuna and mayo. If I'd had celery or frozen peas or corn, they would have gone in also, but it was good anyway. So good. This form of pasta just seems perfect to me: thick enough to have a good chewing texture but hollow, so not overly dense. Spiraled and ridged to hold whatever is added - salsa or mayo or even just butter. If you like rotini, I strongly recommend trying this. Hot or cold. Except today. Today is definitely a day for more cold pasta salad, at least here in Massachusetts.
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I like cavatappi a lot. I've had it from misfits. I agree, it's good at holding sauce.
ReplyDeleteI just learned this from wikipedia: "Cavatappi is a generic name adopted by other brands that imitated Barilla's cellentani. This particular shape was born in the 1970s at Barilla in Parma." So I accidentally took the scenic route to the original source!
DeleteSmart. I need to branch off from my old pressure cooker and try an instant pot. Old school! I lv all pasta, this one especially!
ReplyDeleteI got the Gourmia at an after-holidays sale, so it was a now-or-never decision, which helped! I do use it a lot. I've always thought it would be nice to have a pressure cooker-canner so I wouldn't be so dependent on the freezer, but it probably won't happen in this lifetime.
DeleteWe have always cooked with the thought of 'planned overs'. Sometimes they get put in the freezer for later consumption or they end up appearing on the table a night or two later (maybe more, depending on what it is). Planned overs are perfect in the hot weather we're having, for sure.
ReplyDeleteI like "planned overs" - will borrow :)
DeleteBatch cooking is the way to go!
ReplyDeleteI like my baking up like that - if I'm firing up the oven I'm going to cook at least three different things. :-)
If I ever turn on my oven again I'll remember this :)
DeleteI pressure can, but I've never cooked food in a pressure canner. I have a small old-fashioned one, but I never use it. Habit I suppose. I looked at the automatic ones, like Instant pot, but it's a bit out of my budget. Still, shorter cooking time makes sense to someone who's trying to keep cooking heat at a minimum! That said, your pasta looks yummy.
ReplyDeleteI bought the Gourmia at a big discount and it was still a hard decision. It's worked out very well, fortunately!
DeleteCan't say that I've ever heard of or seen that type of pasta. Most of my meals take less than 30 minutes, including a salad and cleanup of the kitchen at the same time, so I don't have any other kitchen gadgets or accessories. When I was in the states, I did use a crock pot. My boys apparently love their air fryer and think I should get one. :) But I really don't have room to store anything else --especially since I have a very large jar collection which I can't seem to throw out. :/
ReplyDeleteSpace - or lack of - is a major issue in my house as well. I'm in the process of trying to rearrange one little spot to magically hold both the microwave and the Gourmia.
DeleteI have seen that pasta but never tried it. It does sound perfect.
ReplyDeleteI never thought of it as batch cooking, just as me still cooking for 6 men! Now i feel better about it, not like I just always cook too much.
When you cook for that many people, you're probably lucky if you have any leftovers at all!
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