Slow cooker recipes

The winter months are the perfect time to bring out the slow cooker and create a hearty, delicious, easy-to-prepare meal.

In a world where everything is fast, including food, slow cooking takes its time. Put everything in the slow cooker – or croc-pot as they were once known – and leave it to simmer away gently for the day. In the evening, simply serve and enjoy.

Slow cookers suit any food that is usually simmered. They are great for stews, pot roasts and stocks. Slow cookers have a low-pressure seal, caused by trapping the vapour, so there is little evaporation meaning food shouldn’t dry out. The temperature is kept low and even and is well suited to cheaper cuts of meat which are made tasty by the long, slow cooking process.

Here are three recipes suited to these cold New Zealand winter months!

Irish Stew

Irish stew is one of those simple, one-pot meals that you can prepare in the morning and leave simmering for much of the day. Traditional Irish stews used mutton, however lamb and beef are common ingredients in New Zealand versions. The Guinness is what really brings out the flavour!  

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon oil
• 200g chopped bacon
• 900g cheap stewing lamb or stewing beef
• Small bunch of fresh thyme
• 3 sliced onions
• 5 carrots cut into chunks
• 6 medium potatoes cut into chunks
• 400ml lamb, vegetable or beef stock
• 300ml Guinness or stout
• 3 tablespoons of tomato paste
• 3 bay leaves
• 1 large leek cut into chunks
• 1 tablespoon of butter
• 3 tablespoons of flour

Method:

Heat the oil in a frying pan. Sizzle the bacon until crisp, tip into the slow-cooker pot. Combine the seasoned flour and the meat then fry until brown.

Place thyme, onions, carrots, leek, tomato paste, potatoes, stock, bay leaves, and meat in the stock pot then add enough Guinness and/or water to cover.  

Cover and cook on a low setting for 7 hrs.

Before serving, stir in the butter and season with salt and pepper.

If stew is looking a little watery, add a little cornflour or regular flour and turn up the heat to a simmer for the final hour.

Serves 4.

Moroccan Lamb Shanks

Lamb shanks are ideal for slow cookers. The meat will eventually go tender and fall off the bone. This sweeter Moroccan version includes apricots and will surely go down a treat with your guests.

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 4 lamb shanks
• 3 medium onions, sliced
• 1 chopped carrot
• 1 tablespoon each of ground coriander, turmeric and cumin
• 1 tablespoon of ginger
• 4 garlic cloves, chopped
• 3 tablespoons of tomato paste
• 1 cup unsweetened yoghurt
• 400g can chopped tomatoes
• 2 cups of chicken or vegetable stock
• 1 cup of chopped dried apricots
• Lemon zest of one large lemon

Method:

Trim the lamb so the bone is protruding. In a large frying pan, brown the lamb, then transfer lamb to the slow cooker.

Add onion, carrot, ginger and garlic to the pan and gently fry for 5 minutes. Add the cumin, turmeric and cumin and stir until aromatic. Add tomato paste and cook for a further minute and continue stirring.

Place in slow cooker. Add the rest of the ingredients, except the apricots and cook covered, on low, for 4 hours.

Add apricots. Turn to high and remove the cover. Cook for one hour.

Serve with couscous.

Serves 4.

Traditional Southern Italian Ragu Sauce

This is an incredibly rich, tangy tomato sauce like no other. Once you’ve tasted this, you’ll never eat pre-prepared tomato sauce again. The secret lays in the meat. When it is cooked slowly in the sauce it imparts a very rich flavour.

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 500g chuck steak or rump steak
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 large onion, diced
• 1 cup carrots, diced
• 1 cup celery, diced
• 2 x 400g canned Italian whole tomatoes
• 3 tablespoons of oregano
• 3 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 beef bouillon cube, crumbled
• 1 cup 250ml red wine
• 1 cup of water
• 1 teaspoon brown sugar
• 3 dried bay leaves
• Handful of basil
• 1 tablespoon of red wine vinegar
• Pinch of salt and a few twists of pepper

Method:

Heat the olive oil in a large fry-pan. Gently fry the steak on both sides until lightly browned.

Remove from pan. Add the garlic, carrots and celery and fry for a few minutes until soft. Add the wine and stir for a few minutes, scraping up all that tasty goodness stuck to the pot.

Transfer to slow cooker. Add the remaining ingredients and slow cook, on low, for four hours. Season to taste, add two tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, one tablespoon of red wine vinegar and ripped-up basil and stir.

Serve with pasta.

Cook the pasta, as per packet instructions, drain then return to the pot. Keep the heat on. Add parmesan cheese and a ladle of the sauce and stir. The steam will help the sauce and cheese bind to the pasta.

Take off the heat and serve on heated plates. Add some extra sauce and cheese and enjoy!

The meat is sometimes discarded, although you can chop it up and add it to the dish, if you like.