2 slow cooker recipes [one vego & one for meat lovers]

here are 2 awesome Winter Recipes that we love 

[Frank is a BIG meat eater so i do tend to make 2 soups or stews at the same time when using the slow cooker as we have 2 of them..... i eat the vego dishes while he tucks into the meat based ones]

Bean & Pumpkin Stew  (serves 4)

* 250g butternut pumpkin, deseeded, peeled, cut into 2cm pieces
* olive oil cooking spray
* 1 red onion, halved, thinly sliced
* 1 garlic clove, crushed
* 1 teaspoon Middle Eastern spice blend
* 2 tablespoons tomato paste
* 400g can diced tomatoes
* 1 zucchini, diced
* 1 red capsicum, cut into 2cm pieces
* 150g button mushrooms, thickly sliced
* 400g can cannellini beans, rinsed, drained
* 1/2 cup basil leaves, shredded
* 1/2 cup grated low-fat cheddar cheese
* 8 slices French bread stick, toasted


Method

Wash pumpkin and place, with water clinging, on a microwave-safe plate. Cover and microwave for 3 minutes or until almost tender. Drain.

Meanwhile, spray a saucepan with oil. Heat over medium heat until hot. Add onion. Cook, stirring often, for 3 minutes or until soft. Add garlic and spice blend. Cook, stirring, for 2 minutes or until aromatic.

Add tomato paste, tomatoes, zucchini, capsicum and mushrooms. Bring to the boil. Reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer, uncovered, for 15 minutes or until thickened.

Add beans and pumpkin. Cook for a further 10 minutes or until pumpkin is tender. Stir in basil and season with salt and pepper.

Preheat grill on medium-high heat. Spoon bean mixture into four 2-cup capacity, heatproof bowls. Sprinkle with cheese. Grill for 2 to 3 minutes or until cheese melted.  Serve with toasted bread.

Lamb Shank Tagine

• 2 kgs Lamb shanks (approx. 400 g each)
• 1 tablespoon Ras-el-Hanout (Available in Middle-Easten delis)
• ½ tablespoon salt
• ½ cup plain flour
• Olive oil for frying

Sauce:

• 1 medium size sliced onion
• ½ cup olive oil
• 200g diced tomatoes
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• ½ tablespoon Ras-el-Hanout
• ½ tablespoon cracked black pepper
• ½ tablespoon sumac (Available in Middle-Easten delis)
• ½ tablespoon ground coriander
• 1 dried Persian lemon crushed (Available in Middle-Easten delis)
• 50mls pomegranate molasses
• 2 cloves garlic (finely grated)
• 50mls honey
• Water

Garnish:

• Rough chopped parsley
• Yoghurt
• Chopped dried fruit
• Toasted pine nuts

Method

1. Mix flour. Ras-el-Hanout spice and salt together thoroughly. Flour shanks, reserving remaining flour mixture for sauce. Heat oil in frying pan. Brown shanks on high heat on all sides and bottom. Store shanks for later.
2. Heat olive oil and fry sliced onion until golden. Add remaining flour mixture from shanks and fry for few minutes to create a roux-like mixture. Add all sauce ingredients (apart from honey) together in a slow cooker. Add shanks and enough water to almost cover. Stir gently to combine. Bring to boil on highest level of cooker and then cook on medium heat for 6-8 hours (at Taboon we do this overnight in our stone oven!). Remove shanks from sauce, add honey and check for seasoning.
3. Serve individually on rice or couscous with a generous amount of sauce. Top with a spoon of yoghurt and garnish with parsley, dried fruit, pine nuts and a drizzle of olive oil.

 ENJOY!!

smiles, trace xo