End of May Ease: Just 5 ingredients. I love tossing this together when the weather warms up and I don't want to heat the kitchen.

This is my End of May Ease pasta: just five ingredients, a slow cooker, and zero need to turn on the oven or babysit a boiling pot. Dry linguine goes straight into the slow cooker, broken into shorter strands so it can soak up a dark, glossy, umami-rich broth as it cooks. The result is steamy, tangle-y noodles that look a little wild but taste like they came from a cozy, slow-simmered Italian-American kitchen. I lean on pantry staples and let the slow cooker do the work while I’m juggling emails, daycare pickup, and figuring out who tracked mud through the house this time.

Serve the linguine hot straight from the slow cooker with a big green salad (bagged is totally fine) and some crusty bread or garlic toast for dunking into the extra broth. A squeeze of lemon over each bowl brightens the rich, savory sauce, and a sprinkle of crushed red pepper is great if you like a little heat. If you want to bulk it up, add a handful of rotisserie chicken or canned chickpeas on top right before serving, but honestly, a glass of crisp white wine or iced tea and a sunny back porch are all this cozy, brothy pasta really needs.

Servings: 4

12 oz dry linguine, broken into thirds

Lightly oil the inside of your slow cooker crock to help prevent sticking (you can use a little of the olive oil for this).

Add the low-sodium beef broth, jarred marinara sauce, soy sauce, and remaining olive oil to the slow cooker. Whisk or stir well until the liquids are evenly combined and look like a deep, reddish-brown broth.

Break the dry linguine into roughly thirds so the strands are shorter and fit easily in the slow cooker. This helps them cook more evenly and tangle into those glossy, pull-apart strands.

Scatter the broken linguine into the slow cooker, pressing it down gently with a spoon or tongs so most of the pasta is submerged in the broth. It’s okay if a few pieces poke out; they’ll soften as they cook.

Cover and cook on HIGH for 1 hour, then open the lid and use tongs to gently stir and separate the noodles, pulling up any strands that might be clumping or sticking together.

Re-cover and continue cooking on HIGH for another 30–60 minutes, stirring every 20 minutes, until the linguine is glossy, tender, and coated in a thick, dark, umami-rich broth. The liquid should reduce into a shiny sauce that clings to the pasta.

Once the pasta is cooked to your liking, turn the slow cooker to WARM. Give everything a final toss so the strands are evenly coated and steamy, then taste and adjust with a splash of soy sauce or a drizzle of olive oil if desired.

Serve the linguine straight from the slow cooker into warm bowls, making sure to scoop up some of the rich, gelatinous broth from the bottom for each serving.

To keep this in the spirit of a 5-ingredient, low-effort, warm-weather dinner, I like to treat add-ins as optional bonuses rather than part of the base recipe. For a lighter flavor, swap chicken broth for beef broth; for a deeper, almost French-onion vibe, use all beef broth and add a splash of Worcestershire (this would count as an extra ingredient). You can stir in a handful of baby spinach or arugula during the last 5 minutes of cooking for a bit of green that wilts into the hot pasta. If you have leftover grilled chicken, sliced sausage, or canned white beans, fold them in after the pasta is cooked and let them warm through on WARM for 5–10 minutes. A sprinkle of grated Parmesan, pecorino, or nutritional yeast on each bowl is great if you’re okay going beyond the core five ingredients. For a bit of heat, add crushed red pepper flakes at the table so everyone can control their own spice level. Food safety tips: Make sure your slow cooker starts on HIGH so the contents move quickly through the temperature “danger zone” (40°F–140°F). Don’t leave the pasta on WARM for more than 2 hours; beyond that, the texture will get mushy and bacteria can grow. Refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours of cooking in a shallow container so they cool quickly, and reheat thoroughly on the stove or in the microwave until steaming hot before eating. Because this recipe is quite starchy, you may need to add a splash of water or broth when reheating to loosen the sauce.