Best slow cooker recipes, from cakes and puddings to lasagne and pizza
SLOW cookers are for more than just lamb shanks — from yoghurt to lasagne, pizza to puddings, these are some winter miracles you can work in the kitchen.
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THROUGH these dark and dismal winter months, the slow cooker is a knight in stainless steel armour, coming to the rescue when the family is desperate for a warming meal but there aren’t enough hours in the day.
Those who already have the appliance in their kitchens will no doubt be well versed in the casseroles and curries that can be left to cook unattended while everyone goes to work, school and play, before returning triumphant to put dinner on the table. But the slow cooker can do much, much more than that.
How about making lasagne or mac’n’cheese? A steamed pudding or a cake? The porridge for breakfast or a pizza snack?
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“You put the slow cooker on in the morning and can come home to a beautiful meal,” says former MasterChef contestant and owner of Adelaide’s The Middle Store, Rose Adam. “Dinner can be ready in 10 minutes. And you don’t lose any flavour from what you are cooking. Everything is staying inside the pot, getting richer and richer.”
Katy Holder author of Slow Cooker Vegetarian, highlights some other advantages.
“There is often only one pot to wash up at the end, a win for any family,” she says.
“And a slow cooker won’t heat up the house like an oven does, not an issue in winter, but a slow cooker can be used all year round, so this is a definite plus in summer.”
Michelle Southan, food director of taste.com.au, has watched the popularity of slow cookers grow and grow, with the demand for new ideas stronger than ever.
“Today people use slow cookers for everything from breakfast, lunch and dinner,” Michelle says. “We use them for everyday cooking but also entertaining a crowd.”
SAVOURY
HUMMUS
“People get a little bit nervous about making hummus at home,” says Rose. “You can use tinned chickpeas but the fresh ones really are best.”
The secret is to cook chickpeas so they retain their flavour and stay intact, which is where the slow cooker comes in. “We will often just cook them in slow cooker for a day,” Rose says. “It doesn’t really matter how much water you have in there. And you don’t lose the flavour. You don’t want to pour all the flavour down the drain.” Drain the cooked chickpeas and blend with tahini, olive oil, garlic and lemon juice to make an easy hummus.
FRITTATA
Egg-based favourites such as frittata and tortilla can be left to bake in a slow cooker while you do something else for a few hours. Taste.com.au has a recipe for a frittata with chorizo, cherry tomatoes and capsicum. “These are perfect sliced and served with salad for lunch or dinner or you could even get up early on a Sunday morning and by the time you are back from your walk breakfast is ready,” Michelle says.
LASAGNE
Baked pasta dishes, including a cheesy lasagne, can be put together in the slow cooker. “The pasta can either be added at the beginning or in the last hour depending on the recipe and amount of liquid in the dish,” Michelle says. “So at the end you have the perfect ready-to-serve al dente pasta.”
The slow-cooker collection on taste.com.au includes a version of mac’n’cheese and a lasagne made with pork and veal mince, dried pasta sheets and a “bechamel” made from cream, eggs and grated cheese.
Katy offers a lasagne of her own, filled with the goodness of silverbeet mixed with ricotta, parmesan and mozzarella. “It’s a great way to get extra green vegetables into fussy kids because the silverbeet is hidden in the layers of pasta and tomato sauce.”
PIZZA
Emma Jeffrey, owner of The Moat in Melbourne, turns her slow cooker into a pizza oven. She suggests coating the cooker with no-stick spray, then pressing 300g of pizza dough into the bottom. Spoon over tomato sugo, leaving a 1cm border at the edges, before topping with mozzarella, parmesan, sopressa and sliced chilli. Cook on low until the crust turns golden brown (about three hours).
SEAFOOD STEW
The Italian-American seafood celebration known as “cioppino” is a favourite of Sophie Cookes, from Cookes Catering and Events. Sophie says the stew can be made in a slow cooker by browning a chopped onion in extra virgin olive oil, then adding minced garlic, tomato, capers, chilli and lemon rind, then a bottle of white wine. Cook the sauce on low for 90 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare fresh seafood — a choice of mussels, diced white or pink fish, scallops and crab. Once the sauce is cooked, add seafood, stir well and replace lid to cook for 4-6 minutes. Serve with toasted sourdough rubbed with garlic and drizzled well with olive oil.
CORNED BEEF
Slow-cooked corned beef is on Rose’s home dinner schedule at least once a fortnight, she says. Place a large cut of corned beef (silverside or brisket) in a mix of water and vinegar with cumin seeds, coriander seeds, fennel seeds and mustard seeds. Cook on low for eight hours and either slice or shred.
VEGETARIAN CHILI/BOLOGNESE
A colourful mix of Mediterranean vegetables (eggplant, capsicum, zucchini) and black beans can be the base for all manner of dishes, says Katy.
“It’s great served with rice, or it can be used as a filling inside soft corn or flour tortillas to make quesadillas, or use it as a topping on crunchy tortilla chips,” she says.
“You could also use it as a topping for baked potatoes. Although it contains chilli, the chilli amount can easily be varied to suit all members of the family.”
Katy slow cooks the vegetables, spiced up with cumin, paprika and chilli powder, for three hours, before adding fresh or frozen corn to warm for another 10 minutes.
WHOLE CAULIFLOWER
Jump on the trend for making vegies the centrepiece of the dish and check out the recipe on taste.com.au for slow-cooker cauliflower korma. The whole cauli is dunked in a mix of stock, passata and korma paste, before cooking on low for five hours or until tender.
“One of the important things to know about a slow cooker is not to add too much liquid,” Katy advises.
“The vegetables will give off liquid as they cook so you don’t want to add too much other liquid at the beginning.
“Don’t worry if when you start the dish looks dry. By the end of the cooking time, the vegetables will be cooked and (if intended) saucy.”
SWEETS
BROWNIES
Emma uses her slow cooker to whip up a batch of triple chocolate brownies. Lightly spray the slow cooker with cooking oil, line with baking paper and spray baking paper again. In a small bowl whisk 1¼ cups all purpose flour, ¼ cup Dutch cocoa powder, ¾ tsp baking powder and ½ tsp salt. Place 125g butter and 240g chopped chocolate in a microwave or double boiler and heat until chocolate is melted. Add 1 cup of caster sugar, stir and combine, then stir in 3 larger, lightly beaten eggs. Add the flour mixture, 1 cup of chopped walnuts and 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips and stir until moistened (don’t over mix). Transfer carefully into slow cooker. Cover and cook on low, for 3½ hours. Uncover and cook another 30 minutes. Remove insert from slow cooker and run a knife around edge to loosen brownie. Cool and serve.
PUDDINGS
Most of your favourite winter desserts, from gooey self-saucing puddings, to baked apples and poached pears, can be slow-cooked. Check out the recipes for sticky date pudding, apple and rhubarb cobbler and raspberry crème brulees on taste.com.au
CAKES
Or take it to the next level and bake a slow cooker cake, like the one on our cover, a hummingbird mix of coconut, pineapple and mashed banana. “The cakes get almost slightly steamed as the cake pans are set over a water bath in the slow cooker, which results in a slightly more dense and moist cake at the end,” Michelle says.
QUINCES
“I’m mildly obsessed with quince and love how you can turn it in so many directions, both sweet and savoury,” says Sophie. “It’s the ultimate ingredient for me.” She rubs the fur from the quince with a dry tea towel, cuts it into quarters and places in the slow cooker. “Leave the pips and core in — the pectin helps with thickening the sauce,” she advises. Add enough verjuice to cover the quinces, bay leaves, ½ cup honey and lemon rind. Allow to cook in the slow cooker for 4-5 hours. Serve warm with a dollop of Greek yoghurt and lemon zest.
DRINKS
Warm big batches of mulled wine or other favourite drinks in the slow cooker when entertaining this winter. “The great thing with the slow cooker is you can keep them warm in the kitchen and still enjoy spending time with your guests rather than spending time in the kitchen reheating or even trying to leave it on the stove safely,” says Michelle. Or try a slow-cooker chai hot chocolate, spiced with cinnamon, star anise, cloves, ginger and cardamom.
BREAKFAST
OATS
Knock the ice off a winter morning with a steaming bowl of porridge, extra-creamy after bubbling away through the night. “The best part about slow cookers and breakfast is that you can pop them on the night before and wake up to the smells in your kitchen,” Michelle says. “Oats love to soak and the longer they cook the creamier they get, so the slow cooker is perfect for making the best winter breakfast.” Combine 1 cup oats, 3½ cups water, a grated apple, 1 tsp vanilla extract and a cinnamon stick in your slow cooker and leave on low overnight. Serve with yoghurt, fruit, toasted nuts and seeds.
YOGHURT
And you can make that yoghurt yourself, as well, says Emma. Heat two litres of milk on high in the slow cooker until it reaches 82C, which will take a couple of hours. Turn off and allow the temperature to drop to 43C (another two to three hours). Take a mug of the milk and mix with 100ml live yoghurt, then pour the mix back into the slow cooker and stir thoroughly. Wrap the slow cooker in a large towel and leave undisturbed for 9-12 hours until the mixture has set.
JAM
Rose turns boxes of fruit such as apricots into jam with her slow cooker. “Cut the apricots in half and put into the cooker with sugar, a little bit of water to make sure the sugar doesn’t burn and a couple of cinnamon sticks,” she says. “Let it go until it becomes a beautiful, delicious sticky jam — about half a day.”
RECIPES
SLOW COOKER HUMMINGBIRD CAKE
Serves: 8 | Prep: 15 minutes | Cook: 3 hours 30 minutes
INGREDIENTS
• 300g (2 cups) plain flour
• 200g (1 cup, firmly packed) brown sugar
• 45g (½ cup) desiccated coconut
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 3 eggs, lightly whisked
• 180ml (3/4 cup) light extra virgin olive oil
• 440g can crushed pineapple
• 260g (1 cup) mashed banana (about 3 bananas)
• 105g (3/4 cup) pecans, toasted, chopped, plus extra, to serve
• 4 cups warm water
• Store-bought caramel sauce or dulce de leche, to drizzle
CREAM CHEESE ICING
• 250g pkt cream cheese, chopped, at room temperature
• 70g unsalted butter, chopped, at room temperature
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 300g (2 cups) icing sugar mixture
METHOD
1. Grease a round 20cm (base measurement) cake pan. Line base with baking paper. Whisk flour, sugar, coconut, baking powder, cinnamon, bicarb and a pinch of salt in a bowl until combined. Make a well in centre.
2. Add egg, oil, pineapple and banana to the well. Stir to combine. Stir in the pecans. Pour into prepared pan. Smooth surface. Place a wire trivet or rack in a 5L slow cooker. Add enough water to slow cooker to cover base, leaving top of rack exposed. Place pan on rack. Cover and cook on Low for 3 ½ hours or until a skewer inserted in centre of cake comes out clean. Remove from cooker and cool completely in pan.
3. For the icing, use an electric beater to beat the cream cheese, butter and vanilla in a bowl until smooth. Gradually beat in the icing sugar until well combined.
4. Use a large serrated knife to cut cake in half horizontally. Spread with a third of the icing. Top with remaining cake. Spread remaining icing all over cake. Drizzle with caramel. Scatter with the extra pecans.
— Recipe by Alison Adams, Taste Magazine
THREE-CHEESE AND SILVERBEET LASAGNE
This lasagne is a great way to get extra green vegetables into fussy kids because the silverbeet is hidden in the layers of pasta and tomato sauce.
Serves: 4-6 | Prep: 20 minutes | Cook: 3 hours 15 minutes
INGREDIENTS
• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 750g silverbeet, leaves finely shredded, stems finely chopped, kept separate
• 1 small red onion, finely chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed or finely chopped
• 1 large handful basil, stems finely chopped, leaves coarsely chopped
• 2 tbsp tomato paste (concentrated puree)
• 3 x 400g tins chopped tomatoes
• 400g ricotta cheese
• 100g finely grated parmesan cheese, plus extra to serve
• 150g bocconcini or mozzarella cheese, cut into small cubes
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 250-300g lasagne sheets
• Green salad, to serve (optional)
METHOD
1. Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large frying pan over medium — high heat. Cook the silverbeet stems and onion for 2 minutes,
then add the silverbeet leaves and cook for a further 3 minutes until wilted. Drain, squeezing out any excess liquid. Transfer to a large bowl and allow to cool while making the tomato sauce.
2. Heat the remaining oil in the frying pan over medium — low heat. Add the garlic and basil stems and cook for 3 minutes until golden. Stir in the tomato paste and cook for 1 minute before adding the chopped tomatoes. Season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, then simmer for 10 minutes or until the sauce thickens slightly.
3. Add the three cheeses, egg and basil leaves to the bowl with the silverbeet and mix well. Season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.
4. Transfer about one-third of the tomato sauce to the slow cooker and spread over the base. Arrange a layer of lasagne sheets (about one-third of the sheets) on top of the sauce, snapping to fit if necessary. Top with half of the silverbeet mixture, another layer of lasagne sheets and another third of the sauce. Top with the remaining filling, lasagne sheets and tomato sauce. Cook on low for 3 hours, or until the pasta is tender.
5. Serve with extra grated parmesan and a green salad, if you like.
— Recipe from Slow Cooker Vegetarian by Katy Holder, Murdoch Books, $29.99
BUYING A SLOW COOKER?
Michelle has some advice for people thinking of buying a slow cooker.
“Look for ones that have a browning capability which allows you to caramelise the meat prior to cooking in the same pan, which not only adds flavour but saves on washing up,” she says. “And if you wish to explore cooking desserts, cakes and cheesecakes in your slow cooker, buy one which is large enough to fit about a 6 cup ovenproof dish or a 20cm cake pan.”
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