Quick and Easy Slow Cooker Meatball Soup

Ingredients:
Half a large bag of frozen Lidl or IKEA Swedish meatballs (about 30 meatballs)
Riso or Orzo pasta (I use De Cecco Riso or Tesco Orzo, but you could also use rice if you prefer.)
a 400g Jar or carton of good Italian passata (I use Mutti)
a half-sized tin (227g) of chopped Italian tomatoes
1 tin of Italian Borlotti beans with their juice (pinto beans can be used to substitute)
1 pint of water
1 Knorr rich beef gel stockpot (made into 1 full pint of stock)
2 tsp. dried basil
2 tsp. dried oregano
1 large clove or 2 small cloves of garlic (pressed)
pink salt to taste
A large slow cooker (crockpot)
Cooking time:  3 hours


I came up with this recipe because I was sick with a sinus infection and had been laid up and unable to cook for a couple of days.  I didn't fancy any quick processed-type foods, but wanted something wholesome without having to stand in the kitchen for a long period.  This took me 8 minutes to throw together off the cuff, using things I almost always have in my press.  It turned out even nicer than anticipated and my son and husband were absolutely mad about it.  We served this with toasted bagels and tend to eat smaller portions than many people we know, but we found that this amount will feed the 3 of us for 2 nights, so you could certainly feed a family of 4 or 5 with it.  Just throw everything in, walk away and relax until it's cooked.  It's great for a wet and blustery evening or a day when you're not feeling well but want something good to eat.  It's so thick and filling - almost like having a bowl of chilli, but with lovely Italian flavours.


Method:
Put a small amount of grapeseed or olive oil into a pan and toss the meatballs in it on a medium heat for about 4 minutes, before turning over and cooking for a further 4 minutes.  This is simply to seal them off for better flavour and to prevent them turning mushy in the soup.  During the 8 minutes these are cooking, you will be able to prepare the entire rest of the dish.  Use the Knorr beef stockpot to make a full pint of stock.  Pour the stock into the slow cooker, along with an additional full pint of water, the passata, the tomatoes, the borlotti beans, the basil and oregano, the pressed garlic and a dash or two of pink salt.  Add the meatballs to the mixture, stir, set the slow cooker to high and leave for 2 hours.  After the 2 hours have passed, throw in about 165g to 170g of riso or orzo pasta and leave to cook for one more hour.  Serve with some grated cheddar on top and some bread or crackers on the side.  Enjoy!

Vegetable and Pancetta Lasagne

Ingredients:
6 Florets of broccoli
1 small courgette (zucchini), small round courgette or half a large one
1 baby aubergine (eggplant) or half a large one
1 & 1/2 cups (12oz) of homemade pomodoro sauce or your favourite jar of pasta sauce
Approx. 175g (6oz) of grated hard mozzarella 
125g (4.5oz) cubed pancetta (or beechwood smoked bacon or Danish bacon if you can't get Pancetta)
1x 125g (4.5oz) ball of real buffalo mozzarella
Raw lasagne pasta
1 small tub (probably about 6oz) of whipped garlic & herb soft cheese (I use Crefeé from Lidl, but you could use Boursin, Garlí or whipped Philly.)
An approx. 18cm x 18cm (7inch x 7 inch) square pyrex or ceramic dish (I used the Pyrex one with the red plastic lid that you can use to seal it closed afterwards for leftovers - very handy)


I came up with this as an alternative to my usual meat lasagne when I found some lovely round and yellow courgettes in season a couple of years ago.  Since then, I haven't seen the yellow courgettes again, but have continued to make this with whatever type I can find - I use round ones, baby ones or just ordinary ones.  My 8 year old son absolutely loves this and loves helping to make it.  He insisted that I put it on my blog.  In fact, we love it so much that we make it more often than we make a meat one.  This will feed about 4 people when served with a nice side salad.

Method:
First wash the veg and set aside.  Place the cubed pancetta on a medium heat in a large non-stick pan and get to work on the veg. The broccoli florets can be roughly chopped into bite-sized chunks with only a small bit of stem included.  The courgette and aubergine should be diced into small cubes. When all the veg is chopped, add it to the pancetta, which will be mostly cooked by now.  Toss the whole lot around for a few minutes just to soften.  Add the tomato sauce and allow to simmer for a few minutes to marry the flavours and soften further.  Turn off the heat and set the veg, sauce and pancetta mixture aside.  Chop the buffalo mozzarella into small rough chunks and set aside.  Begin layering up:  start with a layer of the veg, pancetta and sauce mixture on the bottom of the dish.  Put a couple of pieces of raw lasagne on top of this (In this size dish, it usually only takes 2 pieces to cover each layer and they don't need to be pre-cooked as the liquid in the layers will cook them in the designated time).  Spread some of the soft garlic and herb cheese in a nice thick layer on top of the lasagne, add another layer of veg mixture and then top with grated hard mozzarella.  Repeat the process again and then a third time, finishing that third layer off with chunks of buffalo mozzarella as well as a handful grated hard mozzarella.  (Remember - no pasta goes on top of the final layer.) 
Next, put the lasagne uncovered in a preheated oven at around 200C (just over 390F) for about 35 to 40  minutes until the cheese is brown and bubbly and the pasta appears soft.  Serve with a side salad and enjoy!