Tag: tomato

Slow Cooker Tomato and Basil Soup with Olive Bread

 

Slow Cooker Tomato and Basil Soup with Olive Bread

Recipe Type: Soup
Cuisine: Slow Cooking
Author: Mediocre Mum
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 6
A lovely, easy to make soup using ripe tomatoes. Much better than the tinned variety and a lot less sugar.
Ingredients
  • 1 TBSP of olive oil
  • 450 grams of ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped
  • 1 Onion, chopped
  • 1 clove of garlic, minced
  • 1 TBSP of Balsamic Vinegar
  • 1 Bay Leaf
  • 300 ml or 430g jar of Passata with Basil
  • 1 Bay leaf
  • 900 ml of vegetable stock
  • Salt and pepper
  • 1 TBSP of Corn Starch
  • 2 TBSP of water
  • Crème freche
  • Couple of pinches of dried basil to Garnish
Instructions
  1. Heat the oil in a large frying pan, sauté the onions, garlic and tomatoes for 3-5 minutes until they soften.
  2. Transfer to the Slow Cooker. Add the Vinegar, Bay Leaf, Passata, Stock and season with salt and pepper. Leave to cook for 3 hours on high or on low for 6 hours.
  3. Thirty minutes prior to serving, remove the Bay Leaf and use a hand held blender to puree the soup. Mix the corn flour with water and stir into the soup. This should help thicken it.
  4. Ladle into large bowls and top with a dollop of crème freche and some basil.
  5. Serve with some nice bread

Slow Cooker Chicken Cacciatore

A tasty tomato and chicken dish, which is great for those cold winter nights.

Ingredients

2 TBSP of olive oil

1 onion

1 tsp of Easy Garlic or two cloves of crushed garlic

455 g of chicken breast cubed

Salt and pepper

250 g of sliced fresh mushrooms

750 gram jar of pasta sauce (I used Dolmio)

1 green pepper, seeded and cubed

Method:

  1. Preheat the slow cooker
  2. Sauté the onion and garlic in the oil for 2-3 minutes.  Add the chicken.  Season with salt and pepper.  Cook until chicken is sealed.
  3. Add the mushrooms and cook for a few more minutes.  Until they soften a bit.
  4. Add the pasta sauce and green pepper.  Mix well.
  5. Transfer to slow cooker and cook on low for 7-9 hours.

Serve on a bed of pasta and sprinkle parmesan on top.  Caesar salad and garlic bread finish it off nicely.

Enjoy.

Pasta in a flash!

Quick Creamy Tomato Pasta

As a busy mum, I sometimes get so wrapped up in things I forget about organising meals for Madame until she says ‘mummy I’m hungry’.  Quick check of the watch and realise, yes, it’s dinner time and I need something quick.  This is one of those recipes that you can throw together in about 10 minutes.

Ingredients

2 TBSP olive oil

½ an onion chopped

1 tin of chopped tomatoes

2 TBSP of cream cheese

1 tsp of dried basil

50g of pasta per child (any shape will do)

Method

  1. Start cooking the pasta.  I’m not going to tell you how as the instructions are on the back of the pack.
  2. To make the sauce.  Heat the oil in a pan and sauté the onions until soft (approx 3-5 minutes).
  3. Tip in the chopped tomatoes, bring to a boil, turn down add the cream cheese and basil.  Heat through.
  4. Drain the pasta a mix into the sauce.

I tend to serve it with sweet corn or cucumber slices on the side.  If I have a bit more time to preheat the oven, as ours takes about 30 minutes to heat, I serve it with garlic bread.

Recipe: Shepherd’s Pie

As you all know I’m not brilliant in the kitchen but there are two things I’m pretty good at cooking; Slow Cooker Lamb Curry and Shepherd’s Pie.  I know you purists will be screaming ‘it’s not a Shepherd’s Pie it’s a Cottage Pie’ as it is made with beef.   Luckily, I can’t hear you!

The key to the success of this Shepherd’s pie recipe is in the layering and my special ingredient, Heinz Tomato Ketchup.  It’s fairly easy to make, but I do find I end up using every pot in the house.  As I’m lazy, I tend to use my food processor for all the mashing  but you could do it with a manual masher and you’ll save on the washing up as well.

Ingredients

6-8 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed

1 large TBSP of butter

1 Onion finely chopped

60 g of Cheddar cheese grated

Salt and pepper to taste

4-6 large carrots, chopped

2 tbsp of vegetable oil

455 g of ground beef

2 TBSP of flour

2 TBSP of Heinz Tomato Ketchup, (the secret ingredient), I tend to free pour and eye-ball it.

180 ml of beef broth

Directions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C)
  2. Boil the potatoes for approximately 20-30 min until you can piece them with a fork easily.  Drain and set aside ready for mashing.  I tend to leave them in the colander with a towel over them to absorb excess moisture.
  3. At the same time, steam or boil the carrots for approx 20 minutes until tender. Drain and set aside.
  4. While everything is boiling you can start on cooking the mince.  Put the oil in a frying pan and add ¾ of the onion.  Cook for approx 3 min or until clear.  Add the mince and cook until brown.  If you’ve used cheap and nasty mince drain off some of the excess fat.  Sprinkle the flour over the mince and stir well for about a minute.  Add the ketchup and beef broth, mix well, bring to a boil and then simmer for 5 minutes.
  5. Transfer mince to an oven proof dish.  Now mash the carrots and spread a layer on top of the beef.  Mash the potatoes, with the butter, ½ of the cheese and the remaining onion and spread on top of mashed carrots and top with the remaining cheese.
  6. Bake in the preheated oven for about 30 minutes or until the top is golden brown.  I tend to serve it with frozen peas.  I do cook them first!  Or you could serve it with baked beans