Question about pasta

Hi folks -
I've been looking through trailcooking.com (love your site, Sarah!) scrounging for new recipes for some upcoming trips. A lot of the recipes that I'm interested in are pasta recipes. Unfortunately, I don't have a pot big enough to boil all that water for cooking the pasta. So I was wondering - there's pasta like the "easy mac" that you do in the microwave - Can I just add boiling water to that pasta and let it sit in the bag for a few minutes? Also, I have a dehydrator - can I cook the pasta at home, dehydrate, and then drop it in a freezer bag with boiling water for a few minutes to rehydrate? How much water is necessary?

Pasta works if you cook it at home and dehydrate. It still takes a while to rehydrate, but at least this way it will be al dente instead of threatening to break a tooth. Very fine pasta (like angel hair, or anything in which the directions say cook 7 minutes or less) will work with a really warm cozy and sitting 20 or more minutes.

Couscous is a form of pasta which doesn't require all that bother--just add your hot water and let sit only a few minutes. I now use it instead of pasta. It is available in a whole wheat version. I must admit, though, that to my grandkids it can't substitute for spaghetti! On the other hand, couscous, unlike spaghetti or angel hair pasta, won't poke a hole in your freezer bag!

That's exactly what I needed to know! Thanks!

Yep, everything OM said

It is a great way to have all the kinds of pasta you want and no big pot. If you look in the dehydrating 101 section I have a section on pasta

Funny is I had just posted a recipe on our local hiking forums using precooked pasta -


This recipe is from our soon to be finished second book that I have worked on for well over 4 years. It is an FBC friendly meal but I have also included how to prepare it in a pot as well.

Chili Mac

In a quart freezer bag:
4 ounces cooked and dehydrated pasta
2 Tbsp ‘Taco’ TVP or cooked and dehydrated hamburger
2 Tbsp diced dried bell peppers
1 Tbsp cooked and dehydrated pinto beans
1 Tbsp freeze-dried sweet corn

In a small bag:
1/4 - 1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp dried diced garlic

Also take:
1 Tbsp or 1 packet olive oil
1 ounce cheddar cheese
Salt to taste

FBC method: Add 2 cups of near boiling water to the bag. Make sure all pasta is covered. Seal tightly and put in a cozy for 15 minutes. Drain off any remaining water carefully. Shake in spice packet and add oil. Mix well and top with diced cheddar. Let melt a bit and stir in.

One Pot Method:
Bring 2 cups water to a boil. Add in the pasta, turn off the stove and cover tightly. Let sit for 10 minutes. Drain off any remaining water carefully. Shake in spice packet and add oil. Mix well and top with diced cheddar. Let melt a bit and stir in.

Serves 1

Notes: The amount of chili powder is up to you; I like it spicy, others don't. Add in a couple salsa packets for an extra kick.

~Sarah

dang that looks delicious!

Sarbar said:


That's because I'm a faithful follower of your web site!!!

couscous can also make a excellent pasta type breakfast. Just bring 1/4 cup water to boil. Remove from heat. Add 1/4 cup couscous, 2 tblspoons dehydrated milk. Small hand full of dehydrated cherrys bluberries or what have you "I like craisons " i usually put a table spoon of a brownsugar cinnamon mixture and a pad of butter in mine. All of these ingrediants can be packed in pint freezer bag and you can just add hot water. i just use my coffe cup and coffe goes in right after so thers no mess i wouldnt already have from the coffe. this is just one of the reasons i alweays carry a bag of couscous with me on multi day hikes.

^I just made myself hungry^ ps: i always use whole grain couscous

I also find egg noodles which typically also cook really quickly work just fine when used for 10-15 minutes in a hot cozy.

I am far too lazy to dehydrate my own pasta, so when I do this
I use either what OM said above, or egg noodles.

When I do it I usually have a good cozy that fits around my pot. I put the noodles and whatever else in the right amount of water, bring it to a boil, and jam the whole pot in the cozy. You can also do it freezer bag style of course.

My favorite pot cozies for this are just home made out of blue foam and duct tape, made to tightly fit the pot and seal up over the top.

thanks for the additional info guys!

Wait...I am a bit confused. If you cook pasta....then dehydrate it....aren't you left with the original form of pasta? Square one?

Pasta out of the box is NOT cooked. By cooking and dehydrating you get "instant" pasta. Think like using instant rice versus raw rice.

Adding to what Sarbar said:

Packaged regular pasta is pretty much a dried paste of flour and water. If you add water, you end up with paste again. Hot water added to uncooked pasta can leave mush, possibly shaped mush, but mush. The water needs to be hot enough long enough to cook the pasta before it starts to dissolve. That is why adding just enough boiling water to reconstitute a food doesn't always cook it. The water temperature cools down too quickly to cook the food.

If the food is cooked and dehydrated, adding hot water brings it back close to the state it was before it was dehydrated.

Does this make sense?

CM

Quite a few men have no real idea of what cooking actually is. In understanding dehydration of pasta and rehydration, this becomes particularly important.

There is cooking meat and seeing the obvious color change resulting from the chemical reactions. Reheating can be done without much further cooking, although often reheating is done in too rapid a fashion, and more cooking (color change) happens.

Unfortunately, cooking pasta doesn't result in an obvious color change and drying it appears to put it back to the uncooked state. But it doesn't.

Perhaps requiring that all cooked foods change color would eliminate the confusion. Education of what cooking is and isn't is too exhausting.

Ah ... the memory of taking home economics in junior high. They don't even teach it anymore (well that is in school - me being pregnant this year meant that my older son got a lengthy intro into taking over the household chores!)

It is overall pretty sad how many folks don't know how to cook these days!

I had to take home ec in jr. high.

I still hate cooking - food should exist when I'm hungry (I don't get a lot of warning - I go from not hungry to dying in a matter of minutes.)

Thank goodness my husband cooks, otherwise I'd live on cous-cous and cereal.

=)

Heather Havel

Sabar and Mom have it pretty well figured out. You might also try shell pasta. It will cook nicely if your water is hot enough to start and your cozy is insulated well. Use from 1/2 to 2/3 the regular amount of water and pour off the extra water to make the sauce when the pasta is right. I mix in some olive oil when adding the water and after pouring off the excess. It keeps the pasta from forming a sticky mass.

And always experiment at home before taking a recipe on the trail.

Glad I'm not the only one. My wife typically refers to me as the "Manservant". You know, like in the cream cheese ads..

If I'm home I'm usually doing the cooking.

Here too, hence the moniker. I must admit though that she is MUCH better baker than I am. Yum!!!!!!!!!!