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Cooking dried pasta in the microwave
Jul. 16th, 2011 12:55 pmFrom discussion elsewhere on finding lunch options for people who need a low fibre diet:
ETA: Khiemtran points out in LJ comments that this can lead to a lot of condensation inside the microwave. I should have mentioned that ideally you will cover the bowl with something that allows steam to vent rather than building up pressure, but retains most of the steam condensate inside the bowl. I have a microwave bowl lid designed to do this, but a plate sat loosely on top of the bowl will often do.
And yes, you need white flour pasta. Obviously this isn't suitable for people who need to avoid gluten unless you can find gluten-free pasta *and* ensure your pack and crockery are kept gluten-free, but it's a useful option for people who need low fibre meals and have access to a microwave and water but not much else. (The original context was a kitchen renovation leaving someone with very limited cooking facilities.)
Some simple options for microwaveable sauces with ingredients you control. With all of these, you may need to add the sauce to the cooked and drained pasta and then put the dish back in the microwave for a quick blip to heat through, melt, or cook the sauce. Note that *all* of these suggestions have ingredients that will be unsuitable for certain dietary restrictions -- the idea here is to offer some options that are likely to work for a lot of people.
If you like fresh basil, a few torn leaves with anything else.
Just a knob of butter and some salt straight on the drained pasta and stirred in works wonders with plain pasta.
A couple of fresh tomatoes (depending on size), roughly chopped, microwaved in a mug or small bowl on medium or high for a minute or two. Add a knob of butter if you can tolerate dairy. If you're really short on crockery, drain the pasta, stir in the chopped tomato and butter, microwave on medium for as long as it takes to get the texture you prefer.
As above but with tinned tomatoes.
If you're really desperate on the cold storage front, a squeeze of tomato paste from a tube, which will let you keep the rest of the tube reasonably well for a while without cold storage. You'll need to leave more water on the pasta when draining to thin the tomato paste a little.
Cheese -- grated if you want it to melt in, but cubed or sliced will work also. Note that many supermarkets sell pick-n-mix cheese portions, and Marks & Spencers has a range of "try me for 99p" portions that make a good single meal portion size and can be easily broken into small pieces.
A couple of slices of any deli meat you know you can tolerate, chopped or pulled into pieces and stirred in.
Ditto previously cooked bacon (I sometimes used to cook an extra couple of rashers for dinner in order to use them the next day in lunch pasta).
Not tried this one on microwaved pasta myself yet, but a beaten egg stirred in and allowed to cook on the pasta's own heat, as in carbonara recipes.
My Italian friends will send me to hell for saying it, but when I was in California I often cooked lunch by putting some pasta in a Pyrex bowl with enough water, and putting it in the microwave to boil the water. If you have a kettle available, you can start off by boiling water in that and pouring it over the pasta in a heatproof bowl, and then put it in the microwave at whatever power setting is needed to keep it boiling gently. Otherwise start it at full power in the microwave, and once it's come to the boil turn the power down if necessary, and cook it for the time it says on the packet to start with -- you may need to adjust the time.
ETA: Khiemtran points out in LJ comments that this can lead to a lot of condensation inside the microwave. I should have mentioned that ideally you will cover the bowl with something that allows steam to vent rather than building up pressure, but retains most of the steam condensate inside the bowl. I have a microwave bowl lid designed to do this, but a plate sat loosely on top of the bowl will often do.
And yes, you need white flour pasta. Obviously this isn't suitable for people who need to avoid gluten unless you can find gluten-free pasta *and* ensure your pack and crockery are kept gluten-free, but it's a useful option for people who need low fibre meals and have access to a microwave and water but not much else. (The original context was a kitchen renovation leaving someone with very limited cooking facilities.)
Some simple options for microwaveable sauces with ingredients you control. With all of these, you may need to add the sauce to the cooked and drained pasta and then put the dish back in the microwave for a quick blip to heat through, melt, or cook the sauce. Note that *all* of these suggestions have ingredients that will be unsuitable for certain dietary restrictions -- the idea here is to offer some options that are likely to work for a lot of people.
If you like fresh basil, a few torn leaves with anything else.
Just a knob of butter and some salt straight on the drained pasta and stirred in works wonders with plain pasta.
A couple of fresh tomatoes (depending on size), roughly chopped, microwaved in a mug or small bowl on medium or high for a minute or two. Add a knob of butter if you can tolerate dairy. If you're really short on crockery, drain the pasta, stir in the chopped tomato and butter, microwave on medium for as long as it takes to get the texture you prefer.
As above but with tinned tomatoes.
If you're really desperate on the cold storage front, a squeeze of tomato paste from a tube, which will let you keep the rest of the tube reasonably well for a while without cold storage. You'll need to leave more water on the pasta when draining to thin the tomato paste a little.
Cheese -- grated if you want it to melt in, but cubed or sliced will work also. Note that many supermarkets sell pick-n-mix cheese portions, and Marks & Spencers has a range of "try me for 99p" portions that make a good single meal portion size and can be easily broken into small pieces.
A couple of slices of any deli meat you know you can tolerate, chopped or pulled into pieces and stirred in.
Ditto previously cooked bacon (I sometimes used to cook an extra couple of rashers for dinner in order to use them the next day in lunch pasta).
Not tried this one on microwaved pasta myself yet, but a beaten egg stirred in and allowed to cook on the pasta's own heat, as in carbonara recipes.
