Real comfort food takes time to perfect, says chef Ross Dobson. These are his slow-cooker classics.
Chicken, date and olive tagine
The sweet, aromatic flavours of this tagine typify Moroccan cooking, as does the use of dates or other dried fruit. Ground ginger is a great spice to have on hand. Lacking the fiery heat of fresh ginger, its gentle warmth and earthiness successfully straddle both sweet and savoury cooking.
Serves 4
- 400g can chopped tomatoes
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 large red onion, thinly sliced
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 2 tsp sweet paprika
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- 12 medjool dates
- 8 chicken mini fillets
- 85g large green olives
- handful chopped coriander
- handful chopped flat-leaf parsley
- couscous, to serve
1 Heat your slow cooker to high.
2 Combine the tomatoes, olive oil, onion, garlic, ginger, cumin, paprika and cinnamon in the bowl of the slow cooker. Season generously with salt and pepper, then give everything a good stir. Cover and cook for 2 hours to let the flavours develop.
3 Stir through the dates, then cover and cook for 1 hour.
4 Working quickly to avoid losing too much heat, add the chicken to the slow cooker, nudging it into the sauce so it is completely covered. Cover and cook for 1 hour, until the chicken is cooked through.
5 Stir in the olives and herbs, then serve with couscous
Fragrant lamb and orzo casserole
Greek cooking is so much more than feta and olives. Cinnamon, bay leaves and cloves add spicy warmth to this rich and hearty casserole. It can be left to cook all day while you are at work, then all you need to do when you get home is stir through the pasta and dinner will be ready in an hour.
Serves 4
- 400g lamb leg steaks
- 400g can chopped tomatoes
- 2 tbsp tomato purée
- 125ml beef stock
- 1 stick cinnamon
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 cloves
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- handful finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
- 125g orzo
- about 30g crumbled kefalograviera cheese (see tip)
- handful small basil or marjoram leaves
- lemon wedges, to serve
1 Heat your slow cooker to low.
2 Trim off any fat from the lamb and discard. Cut each lamb steak in half.
3 Combine the tomatoes, tomato purée, stock, cinnamon, bay leaves, cloves, oregano and parsley in the bowl of the slow cooker. Season generously with salt and pepper and give everything a good stir. Add the lamb, push it into the sauce, then cover and cook for 8 hours.
4 Stir through the orzo, cover and cook for 1 hour, until the lamb is very tender and the orzo is cooked.
5 Serve the casserole in bowls, scattered with the cheese and basil or marjoram leaves, and with the lemon wedges on the side.
TIP Kefalograviera is a hard, salty sheep’s cheese that can be tricky to find, but I’ve made this many times with shavings of parmesan or pecorino and they work nicely too.
Chicken puttanesca with gnocchi
Some people shriek in horror at the mere suggestion of an anchovy. True, they are not the most attractive-looking ingredient, but when cooked into a sauce they virtually disappear, imparting a complex savoury flavour. All the other ingredients here have the sunny disposition of the Mediterranean and perfectly complement the tender chicken.
Serves 4
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 red onion, thinly sliced
- 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- small handful flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 125ml red wine
- 400g can chopped tomatoes
- 1 tbsp small capers, rinsed and drained
- 2 anchovy fillets, chopped
- 2 tbsp tomato purée
- 1 tbsp cornflour
- 6 large chicken thigh fillets
- 300g gnocchi
- 50g parmesan
1 Heat your slow cooker to high.
2 In the bowl of the slow cooker, combine the olive oil, onion, garlic, parsley, oregano, red wine, tomatoes, capers, anchovies, tomato purée, cornflour and 60ml water. Season generously with salt and pepper. Give it a good stir to make sure the cornflour has completely dissolved.
3 Trim the chicken thighs of excess fat and discard. Cut each thigh in half, then add to the slow cooker, pushing them into the sauce so they are completely submerged. Cover and cook for 2 hours, until the sauce is bubbling around the edges.
4 Give everything a stir, then quickly cover again to avoid losing too much heat. Cook for 1 hour, until the chicken is tender and cooked through.
5 Tumble the gnocchi into the slow cooker, gently nudging them into the sauce and around the chicken (avoid stirring as this will allow too much heat to escape). Cover and cook for 20-30 minutes.
6 Transfer the chicken and gnocchi to serving bowls and grate the parmesan over the top.
Veal meatballs with spinach and chickpeas
Few things are as comforting as a meatball. And the first time you do them in the slow cooker will have you asking why you haven’t tried it before. The sauce can be made in advance – well in advance if you wish. The two golden rules of slow cooking must be adhered to for this: don’t lift the lid, and don’t stir too much. You want the heat to stay in the slow cooker, not escape.
Serves 4
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 small brown onion, finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- ½ tsp chilli flakes
- ¼ tsp ground mace or nutmeg
- 400g can chopped tomatoes
- handful roughly chopped dill
- handful roughly chopped flat-leaf parsley
- 400g can chickpeas, rinsed and well drained
- 2 large handfuls baby spinach leaves
- finely grated pecorino, to serve
MEATBALLS
- 750g veal mince
- 30g fresh wholemeal breadcrumbs
- 2 spring onions, thinly sliced
- 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 1 tsp fennel seeds, roughly chopped
- 2 tbsp finely grated pecorino
1 Heat your slow cooker to high.
2 Heat the olive oil in a frying pan over a medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and fry for a couple of minutes to soften without browning. Scrape into the bowl of the slow cooker, then add the chilli flakes, mace, tomatoes, dill, parsley, chickpeas and a good seasoning of salt and pepper. Give everything a good stir to combine. Cover and leave to cook while you make the meatballs.
3 For the meatballs, put the mince, breadcrumbs, spring onions, garlic, fennel seeds, pecorino and a generous seasoning of salt and pepper into a bowl. Use your hands to squeeze the mixture together until it is really well combined. Wet yourhands and form the mixture into walnut-sized balls.
4 Drop the meatballs into the slow cooker, cover and cook for 2 hours, until cooked through. Stir through the spinach, then cover and cook for a few minutes, just until it has wilted.
5 Transfer to serving plates and scatter with the grated pecorino.
Red lentil, pumpkin and lime pickle soup
Lime pickle is one of the tastiest things to have on hand. Not only is it a spicy and sweet condiment to serve with curries, it’s pretty good with crackers and cheddar too. And a few tablespoons stirred through a soup really make it dance with zesty flavour.
Serves 4
- 300g split red lentils
- 1.5 litres reduced-salt vegetable stock
- 2 tbsp Indian lime pickle from a jar, chopped
- 500g pumpkin, peeled, seeded and cut into cubes
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 red onion, finely chopped
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 large tomato, finely chopped
- handful mint leaves
- handful dill sprigs
1 Heat your slow cooker to high.
2 Combine the lentils, stock and lime pickle in the bowl of the slow cooker. Cover and cook for 2 hours.
3 Working quickly to avoid losing too much heat, stir through the pumpkin and season generously with salt. Cover and cook for a further 2 hours, until both the lentils and pumpkin are soft. Turn the cooker down to low.
4 Heat the olive oil in a small saucepan over a high heat. Add the onion and cook for 8-10 minutes, until golden. Stir in the cumin seeds and cook for 1 minute, until the cumin pops and sizzles. Tip the onion into the soup and stir through, along with the tomato. Add pepper to taste – and more salt if needed.
5 Serve the soup in small bowls, garnished with the herbs.
Barley, spinach and porcini soup
I do like throwing dried mushrooms into my slow cooker at any opportunity. They add tons of savoury flavour and meaty richness. Although they used to be a bit of a posh ingredient, they can be picked up at most supermarkets these days.
Serves 4
- 200g pearl barley
- 50g brown basmati rice
- 2 litres vegetable stock
- 1 small onion, finely chopped
- 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
- 1 carrot, finely chopped
- 2 stalks celery, trimmed and finely chopped
- 30g chopped dried porcini mushrooms
- large handful flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
- 4 large handfuls baby spinach leaves
- 100g finely grated parmesan rye bread, to serve
1 Heat your slow cooker to high.
2 Put the barley, rice, stock, onion, garlic, carrot, celery, mushrooms and half the parsley in the bowl of the slow cooker. Season generously with salt and pepper, then give everything a good stir. Cover and cook for 3 hours.
3 Stir through the spinach, the rest of the parsley and half the parmesan. Cover and cook for 30 minutes until the barley is tender and the spinach has wilted.
4 Ladle the soup into bowlsand scatter with the remaining parmesan. Serve with the rye bread on the side.
Now buy the book.
Our recipes are from The Healthy Slow Cooker by Ross Dobson, with photographs by Jeremy Simons, which is published by Murdoch Books, £18.99. To order a copy for £14.44 until 4 February, go to mailshop.co.uk/booksor call 020 3176 2937. Free UK delivery on orders over £25.
