So glad you liked it!

made this exactly as written and is was superb and very easy. tasted exactly like an old italian restaurant’s recipe in a city we moved from – thank you for this. excellent.

So glad you liked it!

So glad you liked it!

So glad you liked it!

One more thing! I came across this guide to salting pasta water you may want to check out. I loved this funny paragraph about the “salty as the sea” adage-

“Chances are, when it comes to pasta water, you’ve heard the age-old adage “It should taste like the sea.” I personally like to imagine it declared, not spoken, by a wizened Italian matriarch while she gesticulates wildly, flinging salt haphazardly around her rustic kitchen. When it comes to cooking pasta, this fuzzy measure seems to be most chef’s rule of thumb.”

They also quote a famous Italian chef who said 1.5 tablespoons for every pound of pasta, but the article basically says there is no hard and fast rule here. Here’s the guide from Food52! https://food52.com/blog/9991-how-to-properly-salt-your-pasta-water

Ah, gotcha. I got that line from some Food Network show once, I forget which one, and I loved it because I find that often times people don’t season pasta water enough and end up with a bland result. Now, this isn’t a specific measurement, so it was intended to guide users to err on the side of more salt than the average cook may think they need, but I can definitely see how this is confusing! I’m going to go in and edit the recipe card now to be more specific. Hope that helps!

I didn’t add any salt “to taste”. The over saltiness was from the recommended “ocean water” level of salted water used to cook the pasta. As I said, inedible.

This recipe requires “salt to taste” so I’m afraid this is on you, friend. Better luck next time!

I’ve never made it in the crockpot and am not experienced with cooking pasta in a slow cooker. BUT I just checked my favorite slow cooker website and there is a taco pasta on there that gave me some ideas (https://slowcookergourmet.net/slow-cooker-taco-pasta/). I’d try adding the uncooked ground beef (I’d use lean for this) and marinara sauce to the slow cooker and cooking on low for 4 hours or high for 2 until beef is cooked. Then once the sauce is ready, add the pasta and 3 cups water and some salt and cook for 30-40 minutes on high until noodles have softened. Then, stir in romano cheese and olive oil and serve. Hope that works and if you try it I’d love to know how it comes out!

Can you make this recipe in the crock pot? If so, how would you modify it?

Thanks so much for letting us know how it worked with a vegetarian and gluten-free option! I’m actually doing a 30 day gluten-free experiment myself and two days in I’m already wanting pasta haha… I’ll have to check out that brand!

For vegetarian and/or gluten-,free brethren, this came out excellent with Impossible Burger “meat” (using a masher was a great idea) and Tinkyada Pasta Joy brown rice spaghetti. I added in sauteed onions and spinach for color. Thanks!

Great tip about Costco! That have such a great selection.

I pretty much do the same thing. I get the frozen 91-9 ground beef from costco (5 x1 lb pack), rao’s (2 x 24 oz pack…so much cheaper at costco!) and the organic 6 pack of variety noodles. So easy and delicious. Going to Costco it costs me about $10 to make (compared to $15 from local grocery store) and it makes more!

Thank you for this! My recipes definitely take shortcuts that sometimes veer away from true authenticity (with an understanding that “authentic” can mean different things to different people). I’m going to edit this post with a link to a more traditional bolognese recipe that’s made with milk and white wine from an Italian blogger that I love!

So glad you and your husband liked it, and also so glad you discovered the glory of Rao’s sauce!

So glad you liked it!