Slow Cooker Pumpkin Soup

Too easy!

1 kg pumpkin, peeled and chopped (I use butternut)

2 small onions, peeled and chopped

1 litre vegetable stock (use a good quality stock like Campbell's for the best flavour)

1/2 cup cream

Place the pumpkin, onion and stock in the slow cooker.

Cook on LOW for 4 to 6 hours, until pumpkin is soft and cooked through.

Cool for 10 minutes.

Using a stick blender, blend until nice and smooth.

Stir in the cream.

Season to taste and serve.

Note: Sautéing the pumpkin and onion first in a little extra virgin olive oil creates a slightly richer flavour.

Slow-cooker Bolognese

 This is how I bolognese now. So easy!

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1kg Lean Beef Mince

1/2 cup dry red wine
700g bottle tomato passata
2 dried bay leaves
3 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tsp dried Italian herbs
1 brown onion, finely chopped
1 large carrot, finely grated*
1 zucchini, finely grated*
2 tsp chicken stock powder
1/2 cup tomato paste
1 tsp sugar
500g dried pasta of your choice
Grated parmesan, to serve
Fresh basil leaves, to serve

Heat oil in a large frying pan (or slow cooker pan, if flame-proof) over medium-high heat. 

Add mince & cook, breaking up mince with a wooden spoon, for 8 minutes or until browned.

Add wine & cook for 2 minutes or until reduced by half.

Transfer mince mixture to a 5.5-litre slow cooker. 

Add passata, bay leaves, garlic, Italian herbs, onion, carrot, zucchini, stock powder, tomato paste, sugar and 1/4 cup water. 

Cover & cook on LOW for 8 hours.

Cook pasta following packet instructions.

Drain.

Serve bolognese on pasta, topped with parmesan and basil.

This bolognese is great for lasagne as well.

* Use veggies of your choice. Mushrooms diced are great as well.

Bread Machine Banana Bread

My new favourite sweet treat. 

 8 Tbsp – Unsalted Butter (softened) 

2 Eggs (lightly beaten) 

1 Tsp Vanilla Extract 

3 Bananas (ripe & MEDIUM-sized bananas) – 3 medium bananas equal roughly 1 cup mashed bananas 

1 Cup Brown Sugar (packed cup) 

2 Cups Plain Flour (all-purpose) 

1/2 Tsp Salt 

1 TspBaking Powder 

1 TspBaking Soda 

3/4 Cup Chopped Walnuts or Mini Chocolate Chips (optional) 

Beat the eggs. 

Mash bananas with a fork. 

Soften the butter in microwave (or overnight). 

Add the eggs, butter & bananas into the bread pan and then add the other ingredients. Follow the order of the ingredients listed above so that liquid ingredients are placed in the bread pan first and the dry ingredients second. Be aware that the bread pan should be removed from the bread machine before you start to add any ingredients. This helps to avoid spilling any material inside the bread machine. The bread machine should always be unplugged when removing the bread pan. 

Put the bread pan (with all of the ingredients) back into the bread machine, close the bread machine lid and then plug in the bread machine. Enter the bread machine settings (Sweet Quick Bread, Light Crust or Cake - Check your manual for sweet quick bread recipes (i.e. banana bread) that use baking soda/powder and not yeast to make sure you use the correct setting for your machine) and press the start button. 

 Optional – If you want to add chopped walnuts or mini chocolate chips to enhance this basic banana bread recipe, please add them after the first bread machine mixing cycle and before the second mixing (final mixing). 

When the bread machine has finished baking the bread, unplug the bread machine, remove the bread pan and place it on a wooden cutting board. Use oven mitts when removing the bread pan because it will be very hot! 

Optional – Use a long wooden skewer to test if the banana bread is completely cooked. Wear oven mitts as the bread pan will be hot. See the tips section for more details on this classic “toothpick” test. 

After removing the bread pan from the bread machine, you should let the banana bread stay within the warm bread pan on a wooden cutting board for 10 minutes (as this finishes the baking process) before you remove the banana bread from the bread pan. Wear oven mitts. 

After the 10 minute “cooldown”, you should remove the banana bread from the bread pan and place the banana bread on a wire cooling rack to finish cooling. Use oven mitts when removing the bread. 

Don’t forget to remove the mixing paddle if it is stuck in the bread. Use oven mitts as the mixing paddle could be hot. 

You should allow the banana bread to completely cool before cutting. This can take up to 2 hours. Otherwise, the banana bread will break (crumble) more easily when cut.