Adding smashed dried pasta to slow cooker beef stew, yay or nay?

March 1, 2017 12:11 AM

I'm currently cooking some beef stew in a slow cooker (should be ready in about an hour) and the broth is fairly thin. In the past I've added a roux and that is good, but I've got some penne which I've smashed into little bits, because I remember risoni being good in stews in the past and that's the closest I can get to it at this time. I'm wondering whether this will work and if so, when should I add it?
posted by h00py to Food & Drink (10 answers total)

Response by poster: Ah fuck it, I'm doing it. I'll add a bit more salt.
posted by h00py at 12:32 AM on March 1, 2017 [15 favorites]

I personally would take out the beef at the end and sharply reduce the broth on the stovetop, perhaps fiddle a little with salt-sugar-vinegar and/or wine/cream and herbs, but would not use pasta. Roux only if made with fresh butter and very good flour--but I don't do that either most of the time...
Then again, if you do like pasta in beef stew -- a lot of the appeal of pasta in general comes from its various shapes, and risoni is a typical example--shattered penne are not really likely going to give you the same kind of satisfaction.
posted by Namlit at 12:34 AM on March 1, 2017

Response by poster: Shattered like my heart, Namlit (it was mostly for the thickening prospects, not so much for the aesthetic).
posted by h00py at 12:39 AM on March 1, 2017

Well, then I would go right ahead!
posted by Namlit at 12:43 AM on March 1, 2017 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: When I'm feeling less pressed by time I'll do the reduction thing. That sounds tasty.
posted by h00py at 12:48 AM on March 1, 2017

Response by poster: Well, I added it an hour before serving and it worked really well. Thanks for giving me the space to explore this extremely important culinary dilemma.
posted by h00py at 1:41 AM on March 1, 2017 [28 favorites]

Cornstarch is also good for thickening.
posted by easily confused at 5:12 AM on March 1, 2017 [1 favorite]

Glad to hear it worked well. I'd have done it, and I was not concerned at all :)
posted by SaltySalticid at 6:15 AM on March 1, 2017 [1 favorite]

When I've done that in the past (add a starch like pasta, rice, etc to a crock pot recipe), the pasta usually disintegrates in almost nothing. So timing on when to add it does matter.
posted by k5.user at 7:22 AM on March 1, 2017

In the past, I've used orzo in that kind of stew situation--it's soaked up enough of the broth that if I put too much in, I end up with more of a pasta dish than a stew!
posted by praemunire at 8:25 AM on March 1, 2017