Gluten-free Penne Boiled in a Hot Pot

Heat 5 cups water to boiling in a hot pot with steamer insert in place. Pour in 2 cups dry penne, stir it around, and leave the cover ajar (not fully open).

Gluten-free Penne boiling in a Hot Pot

With the heat at about 2/3, the boiling comes and goes but the pasta cooks nicely.

Pasta is held off the heating pad by the strainer. There is nothing 
close to as much water as is recommended for cooking pasta; it must be 
gently stirred a few times, and water added as cooking progresses.

When fully cooked, the pasta is tender and very acceptable.

Drain water, add a cup of cold to cool the pot and to stop starch from drying in the bottom, and allow the pasta to drain for a few minutes. Then pour the water out again and invert the contents into a shallow bowl.

Pasta, cooked, is about double the volume of what it was raw.

To see a full set of photographs showing how this dish was made, go to this set on flickr.   (It will open in a new tab or window; to return to this page, just close it.) The small pictures are thumbnails; click on each one to see it full-size, and to read the comments under it.  If you prefer to use the slideshow feature, you won't see the captions unless you click on "show info" (top right).