Warm up to your slow cooker

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RICHMOND - Tortellini soup is one of Marilyn Stroh’s favorite recipes, and fixing it in her slow cooker is her favorite way to prepare it.

“The aroma just kind of wafts through the house,“ said Stroh, who lives on Church Hill.

Plus, as the soup simmers for hours, she isn’t tied to the stove and can get other things accomplished.

Convenience has always been a reason home cooks used slow cookers. Many, though, have been turned off by an abundance of less-than-healthful recipes relying on canned cream-of-whatever soup.

But what if your slow cooker at the end of the day turned out a tasty, nutritious dinner, such as beef and barley soup, cod with tomatoes and fennel, or tortellini soup?

Slow cookers have been around since 1971, when Rival introduced its Crock-Pot. Today, about 6 million are sold each year, many sporting numerous high-tech improvements, including automated settings and easy-clean bowls. Grocers now even sell special slow-cooker liners to make cleanup almost instant.

Now more than ever, it seems, the hectic lives many of us have carved out desperately need the convenience of slow cookers.

Stephanie O’Dea used her Crock-Pot slow cooker a lot in 2008.

O’Dea, who lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband and two children, made a resolution on New Year’s Eve 2007 to use her slow cooker every day in 2008 and post the recipes on a blog (http://crockpot365.blogspot.com). So, she did. Three hundred sixty-six days (2008 was a leap year) of slow-cooking.

“I have always loved my Crock-Pot[s] and find that cooking with them saves both time and money and ensures that our family eats a healthy, hot meal with very little effort,“ O’Dea said in an e-mail interview. “Through the course of this challenge, I’ve learned how to bake and roast in the Crock-Pot, and have made delicate desserts, such as chocolate mousse, crème brûlée and cheesecake, with great success.“

On Dec. 31, she made a black-eyed pea dish.

On Jan. 1, the family ate out.

She is working on a cookbook about her year of slow-cooking - “The Ultimate Crock-Pot Cookbook” - that will be released in the fall.

Stroh isn’t up to using her slow cooker every day, but having acquired a larger one, she’s using it more and more.

“I did a pork roast in it the other day,“ she said. “You put it in and walk away, and you come back to this wonderful meal.“

As for the tortellini soup, Stroh got the recipe from a good friend, Darlene Zoccola of Easton, Pa.

“We swap plants from our gardens, recipes, and really, really fun times,“ Stroh said. “She made this on one of my visits years ago. She’s a wonderful cook. I don’t know if it was handed down to her or if it’s her original concoction. I just know it’s really good. I’ve been making it every winter for at least 18 years. It’s always a hit. Even with those who hate vegetables.“

The soup requires a good deal of chopping, but after it’s assembled, your work is done. It can be made ahead and frozen. It even can be turned into a vegetarian dish by substituting vegetarian sausage for the Italian sausage and vegetable broth for the beef broth.

“Sprinkle pecorino cheese on top, get yourself a hunk of hearty bread and a glass of wine,“ said Stroh, “and you just about have it all.“