Some days I cook from completely fresh ingredients: choosing the best of the farmer’s market, snipping fresh herbs, slow-cooking a roux. Then, sometimes the very next day, I’ll eat a salad-in-a-bag and a can of Campbell’s Tomato Soup.

Anyone who exclusively eats one way or another is selling themselves short. If you always choose the shortcut, you’ll never know the taste of onions that have caramelized over several hours. Turn up your nose at convenience foods, and you’ll miss the airy childhood bliss of Cool Whip on Jell-O chocolate pudding (Devils Food flavor, if you can find it.)

That’s why pasta recipes are so universally loved. They’re easily adaptable to whichever cooking mood you’re in. If a recipe calls for a jarred sauce and you’d rather use homemade; go for it. Or vice-versa. Leave out the meat. Add double meat. Use fresh herbs. Lighten the cheese.

I tried cooking lasagna in the slow cooker as an experiment, and I’m absolutely thrilled with how it came out. There were no crispy bits of hard noodle like you get on the edges with oven baking. In my 4.5-quart Rival CrockPot, I had to break the noodles to fit the round crock. My lasagna was smaller than some, but a decadent mile high. If you have a large oval slow cooker, you can make your lasagna wider but more of a traditional thickness.

This recipe should adapt to any size slow cooker of 3 quarts or more. For a small crockpot, cut the recipe in half.

Doesn't this look yummy?

Then maybe you need to look more closely.

Slow Cooker Lasagna with Spinach, Mushrooms and Turkey Recipe

Ingredients:

1 lb. lean ground turkey
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup onions, chopped
1 Tbsp olive oil (or non-stick spray)
2 25 oz jars pasta sauce (about 6 cups)
15 oz ricotta cheese
1 egg
3 cups cooked spinach, well-drained
2 cups mushrooms, sliced
3 cups grated mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus extra for topping
1 12 oz box lasagna noodles, uncooked

Directions: Brown meat in a pan with the garlic, onions, and olive oil. Remove from heat and stir in pasta sauce. In a medium bowl, beat one egg into the ricotta cheese until well mixed. Stir in spinach and mushrooms. Spray crock of your slow cooker with non-stick spray. Pour one cup of sauce/meat mixture into the bottom, then add a layer of uncooked noodles, breaking to fit your crockpot as needed. Top with one half of the spinach mixture, 1/3 of each of the cheeses, and 1/3 of the remaining sauce. Repeat layers again. Add one more layer of noodles, remaining sauce, and top with remaining cheese. Garnish with parsley or strips of fresh basil.

Cook on low 4-6 hours or high for 2-3 hours.

Tips: When I first cut my slow cooked lasagna, it was not quite as firm as some, though it tasted fantastic (the photos are of the pre-firm version.) I removed the lid and left it on warm. When I returned for seconds, the lasagna was perfectly firm, and cut into perfect squares. You won’t be disappointed either way, but if you have the time, removing the lid for the last part of cooking will give you a firmer lasagna.

Confession: I ate two slices of lasagna and didn't finish the salad. I heard my elliptical groan.

While I never make my lasagna the same way twice, I can guarantee one thing: I’ll never bake it in the oven again.

The hearty-yet-decadent Chicken Chasseur

Some of the dishes that have been around the block are classics for a reason, and they continue to impress generation after generation. A case in point is Chicken Chasseur, which may be one of the oldest recipes on record, dating back to the year 1300 when it was recorded in a manuscript along with other general knowledge.

The Medieval version was called “Chicken Hunter Style,” and it called for a freshly roasted hen to be boiled with garlic, broth, wine, lard, and gizzards. Today we (thankfully) hold the lard and the gizzards, opting instead to use butter and herbs for flavor, but we still drool over Chicken Chasseur (chasseur is French for “hunter.”)

Today’s version is an earthy dish with ingredients that still evoke the forest that was the hunter’s domain: fresh poultry, field mushrooms, just-picked herbs. Slowly simmered in wine and garlic, the flavors are primevally rustic, yet decadently French.

To adapt Chicken Chasseur for the slow cooker, I lowered the traditional amount of liquid and slightly upped the flour. Slow cooking keeps in the moisture and doesn’t allow for evaporation, so the reduction of the sauce has to be rigged. Starting with a thicker base means the sauce will have the consistency of a reduction without the hassle of pan-reducing.

Slow Cooker Chicken Chasseur Recipe

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
4 tablespoons butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 small red onion, chopped
3/4 cup chicken broth
6 tbsp. white wine or vermouth
1 tbsp. flour
salt and pepper
1 cup diced tomatoes, well drained
1 tbsp. fresh thyme (or 1 tsp. dried)
12 oz fresh mushrooms, sliced

Directions: Melt butter in a large skillet, then add chicken breasts and sear on each side until lightly browned, about five minutes on each side. Remove chicken and set aside. Add garlic and onions to pan and cook for a few minutes, just until softened; turn off heat. In the crock of your slow cooker, whisk together broth, wine, flour, salt, and pepper until well blended. Stir in the contents of the saute pan, including any remaining  butter. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well.

Lay the chicken breasts on top of the mixture and cook on low for 2-3 hours or high for 1-1 1/2 hours, until chicken is cooked through. Remove the lid about 20 minutes before serving if you would like to further reduce the sauce.

Tips: If you’re pressed for time, you can add all the ingredients to the pot without searing the chicken or softening the veggies first. You will sacrifice a dab of consistency, and you’ll need to be sure the onions are on the bottom so they’ll cook well.

Guzzled up all the white wine? Use vermouth, which you might be more likely to just have around as a holdover from last month’s martini party.

To make the getting-on-the-table even quicker, serve with rustic bread and a salad-in-a-bag of mixed field greens.

I served my Chicken Chasseur with skin-on, roughly mashed potatoes with fresh sage, to keep the theme provincial. Hunks of bread are in order to sop up the sauce, which is the highlight of the dish. You’ll want to save any leftover mushroom mixture to heat up and serve on toast tomorrow (Perhaps with a smidge of goat cheese? Hmmmmm.)

Just look at that wine-y, buttery juice!