Slow cooker lasagne

Serve 8

Ingredients

1 batch of lentil spaghetti bolognese

500g ricotta- I have used low fat ricotta

100g cheese, grated- I used a lower fat cheese

¼ tsp nutmeg (optional)

150g vetta high fibre pasta- raw- or use lasagne sheets

50g parmesan cheese, grated

Method

Mix the ricotta, the 100g of cheese and nutmeg in a bowl, season well with salt and pepper.

Spray your slow cooker with oil. Place in 2 ladles full of the mince, then dot over ½ cup of the ricotta mix, swirl a little then place half the pasta over (75g) then another 2 ladles full of mince, then ½ cup of ricotta mix, then the other half of the pasta, then the rest of the mince, then the rest of the ricotta mix.

I did not have my shit together for this and only had this on at 3.30pm,  so I put this on high for 1 ½ hours, although it did take a little less than that, check after an hour or so to make sure the pasta is cooked. On low would take about 2-3 hours. You can also bake in a 180c oven for around 45 minutes.

At the end I sprinkled over the parmesan and put the whole insert under the grill for 5-7 minutes to get golden brown on top.

You could add veg in place of the pasta or as well as. Things like thinly sliced pumpkin, sweet potato, potato, eggplant, zucchini, mushrooms, spinach etc..

Slow cooker Spanish chorizo, tomato and bean soup

Ingredients

2 carrots, small dice

2 stalks celery, small dice

1-2 zucchinis, 1 cm dice

1 red and 1 green capsicum, 1 cm dice

1 brown onion, diced

6 cloves of garlic, chopped

1 tbsp paprika and 1 tbsp smoked paprika (or use 2 tbsp of one if you don’t have both paprikas.

700g tomato passata

2 x 400g can rinsed and drained mixed beans

1-2 chorizo, small dice

Water

You can add chopped chili if you would like it spicy, add in with the onion

Method

Put your passata in a large measuring jug and make the total liquid 1200ml (1.2 litres) by adding water. You can adjust how liquidy you want your soup at the end.

Starting in a cold pan, fry off your chorizo to start rendering the fat out, after about 2-3 minutes you can add your paprika onion and garlic and cook for about 1 minute until softened.

Then add your chorizo mix plus your other veg, passata/water to your slow cooker, give it a stir and leave on low for 8 hours. Adjust consistency by adding more water at the end if you need to.

If you want stove top method cook the chorizo in a large pot instead of a pan and carry on with the rest of the recipe. Simmer for about 30 minutes or until all the veg is tender.

Slow cooker Italian chicken and vegetable soup

Dinner or lunch doesn't get much cheaper than this!
This soup mix by itself is just $1.70 for 500g!
It's nutritious, delicious and very filling!!...and did I mention cheap!?!?!
Utilising nutritious legumes this soup mix contain dried peas, barley and lentils. Barley is not gluten free, you can use the italian soup mix which contains, beans, peas and lentils which is gluten free.
This mix contains 18% protein and 15% fibre which is great!
You can make this vegetarian by omitting the chicken and using vegetable stock.

Serves 6

Ingredients
3 carrots, ½ cm dice
3 stalks of celery, small dice
1 brown onion, small dice
6 cloves of garlic, chopped
4 bay leaves
1-2 tbsp dried basil
1 x 400g can diced tomatoes

1 litre of chicken or vegetable stock-this amount of liquid will make a souper thick soup, more like a stew. If you like it soupier you can add more liquid to taste at the end.

4 chicken lovely legs- You can find 'lovely legs' in most supermarkets. They have the skin and part of the bone removed. If unavailable, use chicken drumsticks, just be sure to remove the skin first or you will have bits of soft skin in the soup which doesn’t taste great. You could also just use 4 skinless chicken thighs, large dice.

250g or half a packet of dried soup mix- you can get this near the soup section at the supermarket and its really cheap!
Salt and pepper at the end.


Method
Put everything in your slow cooker and put on low for at least 8 hours. Everything should be nice and tender. When done you can take the chicken legs out, take the meat off and put the meat back in the slow cooker. Season with salt and pepper.

Slow cooker chicken stroganoff

 –serves 6

Ingredients

700g chicken thighs

2 leeks, white part only, washed 2 cm slice

3-4 cloves garlic, chopped-if you are in a hurry you can leave this out

1 tbsp smoked paprika

1 tbsp sweet paprika

300g button mushrooms, some sliced, some cut in half, you can even leave whole as well.

2 tbsp tomato paste

2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

2 cups chicken broth

Sour cream to stir in at the end-as much as you like!

Method

Put everything (except the sour cream) into your slow cooker and put on low for the day. No need to cut up the chicken

When cooked strain all the liquid into a pot, put all the chicken etc back into the slow cooker to keep warm. Bring all the liquid to the boil, then turn down a little and cook until it has reduce by at least half, should be nice and thick like a gravy. By reducing it concentrates all the flavours, and we like flavour right? Then add your gravy back to the slow cooker and stir in your sour cream.

 Serve with your favourite steamed veges and rice, pasta , mash etc if you want.

Chicken Tikka

Chicken tikka- done in the slow cooker, full of indian spice, if you have tried my butter chicken recipe you will like this too!

You can use as a marinade for your chicken and bbq or roast or use as I have done as a curry. Why not make your taste buds dance
Thank you, come again!

I served this with millet. Millet is gluten free and is technically a seed. Millet is a good source of the minerals copper, phosphorus, manganese, and magnesium. Millet is thought to have originated in North Africa, specifically in Ethiopia, where it has been consumed since prehistoric times. There is even mention of millet in the Bible as an ingredient for unleavened bread. Millet is still an extremely important food staple in many Africa countries.




Tikka masala paste

Ingredients

2 cloves of garlic

Thumb-sized piece of fresh root ginger

1 tablespoon smoked paprika

2 teaspoons garam masala

½ teaspoon sea salt

2 tablespoons coconut oil

2 tablespoons tomato purée

Small bunch of fresh coriander

1 tablespoon desiccated coconut

2 tablespoons ground almonds

Optional 1-2 red chillies

Spices for toasting: These are dry fried in a small pan for about a minute until fragrant

1 teaspoon cumin seeds / 1 teaspoon coriander seeds

Method

Blitz up until a smooth paste forms.


This can be used as a marinade enough for about 1 kg of meat such as chicken. I have used this as a curry and added 600g chicken thigh, 1 diced onion, 700ml of tomato passata and added a chunky dice of 1 large eggplant and 2 parsnips. You can use any veg you want such as sweet potato, zucchini, capsicum etc…put in your slow cooker for the day. I did have cream to use so I added that too, but you dont have to!

Legume ragout with saffron and rosemary

Have this by itself or as I have done with poached eggs and feta cheese

The term comes from the French ragoûter, meaning: "to revive the taste".

The basic method of preparation involves slow cooking over a low heat.

Serve 4-6

Ingredients

2 carrots, diced

2-3 stalks celery, diced

1 red or green capsicum, diced

1 large brown onion, diced

3-4 cloves garlic, crushed

2 stems rosemary

A pinch of saffron

2 x 400g can of rinsed and drained legumes, chickpeas, butter beans, cannellini bean, kidney beans etc…

2 cups of vegetable or chicken broth

1 cup tomato passata

Method

Put everything in a slow cooker and put on low for the day.

You can serve with extra veg and poached eggs, feta cheese, chopped chilli

Slow cooked lamb, carrots and borlotti beans with a honey bbq sauce

Serve 4-6

This is a very filling dish; you might not eat as much as you think you would!

Thick and rich this is a beautiful dish for winter.

Ingredients

1kg lamb forequarter pieces, you can use forequarter chop or other meat like chicken pieces, chuck or gravy beef etc…..suitable for the slow cooker

1 (400g) can, drained and rinsed borlotti beans, you can use chickpeas, kidney bean cannellini beans etc..

3 carrots peeled and cut in half

Honey bbq sauce

In your slow cooker or a bowl add 2x 140g tubs of tomato paste

Add ¾ cup apple cider/white wine vinegar or similar

2 tbsp molasses

¼ cup of honey

1 tbsp onion powder

1 tsp garlic powder

Mix altogether; make sure there are no lumps of powder. Add your lamb and carrots and scoop the sauce over the lamb. Put on low for the day 8-10 hours. Put the beans in 30 mins- 2hours before you want to eat. If you are in a hurry just put the beans in a bowl and heat them by pouring boiling water over them and leave them for 2 minutes. Then I usually just pick out the bones and break up the lamb meat. Serve with steamed green beans and broccoli.

Asian honey, soy, garlic pulled pork

Ingredients

1-1.5 kg pork shoulder

2 tbsp tamari or soy sauce

1 heaped tbsp honey

As many garlic cloves as you want!

2 tsp chinese 5 spice

½ chinese wine or water/stock

Method

Take the skin off the pork, you can throw it or use it for crackling. Score the skin so it is easier to break/cut apart later. Rub with 2 tsp salt and 1 tbsp oil. Put in a very hot oven (about 220-230C) for about 30-40 mins until hard and crackled.

Put the wine/water in the slow cooker, put the pork in and rub the pork with the soy, honey and 5 spice powder.  Cook on high for 6-7 hours until the pork falls apart.

I served this with steamed kale, butter beans and slow cooked carrots. (just throw halved carrots in with the pork)

Slow cooked chicken, vegetables, lemon & herbs

I

 Ingredients

1 whole chicken
1 lemon
4-5 cloves of garlic, leave whole or roughly chopped
2 carrot 2 zucchinis, 2 potatoes, all cut in half
1 cup of wine, you can use stock or water
a few springs of fresh rosemary and/or thyme







Method

Halve the lemon and put lemon halves in the cavity of the chicken. You can put some butter under the skin of the breast side of you want.
Put in the veg, wine and herbs and chicken in a slow cooker. Cook on low for 8-10 hours or high for 5-6 hours