Naturally, books followed – and her latest, What’s for Dinner? Slow Cooker, might just be our favourite yet. It’s packed with 100 comforting, realistic recipes that feed a crowd, usually on a budget, and – best of all – can be left to quietly get on with themselves while you get on with your day. For anyone who wants proper home-cooked food without the midweek stress, this is exactly the kind of book that earns a permanent place on the kitchen counter.
We’ve picked three of our favourites, each one already well on its way to becoming a family classic.
Sausage Meatballs
This is one of those family favourite recipes that I hope you’ll come back to again and again. It’s the perfect combination of super easy and something everyone will eat without any fuss. I’ve included instructions on browning the sausages, but if I’m short on time I don’t tend to do this. Use good-quality tinned tomatoes here if you can, as it will really help the flavour.
Serves 4
Ingredients
- 2 tsp sunflower oil (optional, if frying the sausages)
For the Slow Cook
- 450g pork sausages (or 8 sausages)
- 2 x 400g tins chopped tomatoes
- 1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
- 1 tsp caster sugar
- 1 tbsp tomato purée
- 1 tsp fennel seeds
- 1 tsp dried oregano
To Finish
- 85g baby leaf spinach
Method
- Break or cut the sausages into meatball-sized pieces (if the skins start to come off, remove them entirely).
- NOW EITHER:
a) Put the sausage pieces directly into the slow cooker pot.
OR
b) Put the slow cooker pot (if it’s suitable for hob use) over a medium-high heat on the hob with the sunflower oil and add the sausage pieces. Fry for 5–7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until they turn crispy and golden. If the slow cooker pot is not suitable for hob use and you want to brown the sausages first, you’ll need to use a large frying pan here, then transfer the sausages to your slow cooker pot. - Add the remaining ingredients for the slow cook to the sausages in the slow cooker pot, stir well, put the lid on and cook on HIGH for 4–5 hours or LOW for 8–10 hours, or until the sausages are cooked through and the sauce is thick.
- Add the spinach and stir well until wilted, then serve over cooked pasta or mashed potatoes.
Easy Fish Gratin
1 Hour 15 Mins
Cooking fish in a slow cooker can be a little tricky, but this method works really well. This is something like a fish pie but without any faff making the topping. Be sure to finish this under the grill so the breadcrumb top is crispy and crunchy.
Serves 4
Ingredients
- 340g fish pie mix (fresh, or frozen and defrosted)
- 150g cooked, peeled prawns
- 165g garlic & herb cream cheese
- 150ml boiling water
- 1 fish stock cube (undiluted, crumbled)
- 150g frozen petits pois
- 1 lemon, zested and HALF of the juice
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
To Finish
- 60g dried breadcrumbs, such as panko
Fish can be very expensive, so omit the prawns here if you’d like to make it more affordable. Fresh or frozen and defrosted prawns are fine here.
Method
- Put all the ingredients for the slow cook into the slow cooker pot and mix very well. Put the lid on and cook on HIGH for 1–1½ hours, or until the fish is cooked through. Mix gently so that the sauce is smooth.
- When the fish has finished cooking, preheat the grill to high.
- NOW EITHER:
a) Top the fish gratin with the breadcrumbs (if your slow cooker pot is grill safe).
OR
b) Carefully transfer the fish to a grill-safe pan and top with the breadcrumbs. - Place under a hot grill for 3–5 minutes until the breadcrumbs are golden brown.
Cinnamon Buns
2 hours 10 mins, plus proving time
You know I love a fuss-free recipe, but this, it must be said, is not fuss free. It does require kneading, proving and rolling, but I promise you, it’s such a fun weekend bake, and when the result tastes like something from a fancy bakery, I can forgive a few extra steps! Included here are options for how to prepare these the day before you need them, which is very useful if you’re serving them for breakfast or brunch. These buns are best made in a smaller slow cooker, if you have one. If you only have a large (say 6.5-litre) slow cooker, you may want to make double the recipe and freeze the rest for another day.
Makes 6 buns
Ingredients
For the Dough
- 100ml milk (semi-skimmed or whole)
- 75g unsalted butter
- 150g strong white bread flour, plus extra for dusting
- 125g plain flour
- 40g caster sugar
- 7g sachet fast-action dried yeast
- 1 egg, beaten
For the Rolling and Filling
- 100g unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 50g caster sugar
- 4 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tbsp sunflower oil, plus extra for greasing
For the Icing
- 100g icing sugar
- ½ tsp vanilla extract (not essence)
- 1–1½ tbsp milk (semi-skimmed or whole)
Method
- First make the dough. In a small pan, over a medium-low heat, warm the milk and butter until it’s lukewarm (not hot!) and the butter is melted.
- Meanwhile, sift the flours into a large bowl. Add the sugar and yeast to the flours and mix to combine. Add the milk and melted butter and stir, before adding the egg. Mix until you have a soft, slightly sticky dough (at some point during the mixing you will need to use clean hands to bring the dough together).
- Transfer the dough to a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook and knead for 5 minutes on a medium speed, or knead by hand on a well-floured surface (with well-floured hands) for 10 minutes, until the dough is no longer sticky and is smooth and springy to the touch.
- Place the dough into an oiled bowl (to prevent it from sticking) and cover with an oiled piece of cling film. Leave to rise in a warm place for 1–2 hours, or until the dough has doubled in size.
- Once your dough has doubled in size, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and, using a rolling pin, roll it into a roughly 30cm square. It’s important to make sure your dough is of even thickness all over to ensure you have nice, neat buns.
What’s for Dinner? Slow Cooker by Sarah Rossi (HarperCollins, £25) was published on 25 September.
