Tuna Pasta Bake

If you liked my Cheat's Lasagne Recipe from a last month then you'll love this variation. I used to spend hours coming up with elaborate meals to prepare, but these days with a young baby I don't have enough to time to prepare, let alone think of such creative meals as I used to. Well not regularly anyway. 

This pasta bake is great in that I can throw this in the slow cooker in the morning (while the little one naps) and then it's ready to serve in the evening. Perfect for if we have a busy afternoon ahead. It's so easy and pretty darn tasty too. The leftovers keep us going for a couple of days and best of all, even the baby likes it!

Ingredients:

• 2 x 185 gram tins of tuna in spring water
• 1 x 400 gram can of creamed corn
• 1 cup of vegetable stock
• 2 stalks of celery, roughly chopped
• 2 carrots, roughly chopped
• 1 onion, roughly, chopped
• salt and pepper
• 300 grams dried pasta 
• 1 & 1/2 cups of grated cheese
• 1 & 1/2 cups of milk
• 2 eggs

Oil the bowl of the slow cooker, and turn on to high setting to preheat. 

In a food processor mix the tuna (including liquid), creamed corn, stock, celery, carrots, onion, and salt and pepper till well combined. 

Spread 1/4 of the mix in the bottom of the slow cooker dish. Cover with half of the dried pasta, then another 1/4 of the mix over that. Sprinkle with half of the cheese, before layering the remaining pasta, then the rest of the tuna mix on top. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top. 

In the same food processor (don't bother cleaning it in between) combine the eggs and milk, then pour this over the top of the cheese. Put the lid on the slow cooker and reduce the temperature to low. Cook for 5-6 hours, before slicing and serving. 

Cheat's Lasagne

Okay, so I'll admit this from the start, if you're a purist - this isn't exactly lasagne, but if you're lazy like me and want the meat, pasta, cheese combo baked into something that you can serve (and freeze if you want) easily, then this is your jam! When I say easy, I mean EASY. Traditional lasagne takes time to prep and lots of pots and pans - you have to cook the meat sauce, cook the pasta and make a white sauce before assembling and baking again. This cheat lasagne however, simply mix, layer, and leave for 5 or 6 hours then devour! Yes, there is absolutely NO pre-cooking required. And to make it even easier, mix everything in the food processor! You can thank me later. 

Ingredients (serves 6):

• 1 onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 large carrot
• 1 zucchini
• 1 cup of beef stock
• 1/2 cup tomato paste
• 400 g tin of tomatoes 
• 500 g beef mince 
• 2 tbsp dried oregano
• 1 tbsp cracked pepper
• 1 tsp salt 
• 250 g dried lasagne or pasta shapes (spiral would also work well) 
• 4 tsp cornflour
• 1 1/2 cup milk 
• 2 eggs
• salt & pepper to taste
• 1 1/2 cup grated tasty cheese 

Preheat the slow cooker by turning it on high, and oiling the dish. (Alternatively you could bake it in the oven on 120 degrees Celsius for 5 hours.  

In the food processor, chop onion, garlic, carrot and zucchini till well minced. Add the stock, tomato paste, tinned tomatoes, mince, oregano, salt and pepper and mix till well combined. 

Layer the mince with the dried pasta into the slow cooker dish. Use 1/4 of your mince mixture first, spreading evenly, then 1/2 of the dried pasta. Top with another quarter of the mince mixture, then the other half of the dried pasta. Finally put the remaining half of the mince mixture over the top. 

Scatter the grated cheese over top. Next mix your cornflour with a little of the milk till smooth, then mix in the remaining milk and eggs. Season with salt and pepper and beat well. Pour this over the top of the grated cheese. Turn your slow cooker onto low, cover and leave for 4-6 hours till cooked through and beginning to brown on top. Every slow cooker is different - in mine, it is done perfectly after 5 hours, so keep an eye on yours the first time to get the perfect cooking time. 

Slice and serve with garlic bread and either salad or steamed vegetables. 

Mexican Fiesta: Feeding hungry bellies since waaaay back.

Last night I had my older brother staying, so decided to cook one of his favourites. Mexican, a favourite of mine too. 

Starting the slow cooked beef at about 1 o'clock so that by the time I took the steak out at 6, it was falling apart and easy to shred with a fork. 

MEXICAN SHREDDED BEEF

Ingredients

• 1.2kg rump steak, trimmed
• 1 onion, diced
• 1/2 red capsicum diced
• 1/2 green capsicum diced
• 1 tbsp cumin seeds
• 1 tbsp coriander seeds
• 6 squares of 82% Whittakers Dark Ghana Chocolate (darker is best - do NOT use Milk chocolate. Ever.) 
• 1 tin of chopped tomatoes
• salt and pepper
• 2 tins of water (till all ingredients covered) 
• 5 cloves of garlic
• 2-4 bunches of coriander (roots and stalks included) 

Lightly toast coriander and cumin seeds. Then crush in the mortar and pestle. 

Place in slow cooker with all other ingredients, except the coriander and garlic. 

Finely chop the garlic and coriander stalks & roots (reserving the leaves. Then place in mortar and smash till softened and all the juices are released. Place half this mix in the slow cooker reserving the rest for guacamole and salsa. Turn slow cooker on high and leave for approx 5 hrs. or Low for 7-8 hours. After this time remove the meat, and shred with two forks. Remove all other pulp and a little of the juice, lightly pan fry to reheat when ready to eat. (You may wish to add more seasoning and or chilli at this stage) 

Just before serving, stir in a handful of the fresh coriander leaves. 

Reserve all the cooking juices for stock - makes a great lentil soup! 

PICKLED ONIONS 

Ingredients

• 2 red onions 
• juice of 2 limes
• juice of 1 lemon
• salt (2tbsp) 

Finely slice onions into rings, mix all ingredients together and set aside for at least 3 hours. Will keep for up to a week. 

SALSA

Ingredients 

• 3 tomatoes, diced
• 1/4 red onion, diced
• 1/4 of the coriander and garlic pulp mix (see above) 
• 1/4 cup chilli infused avocado oil (or olive oil and a small amount of finely chopped chilli)
• salt and pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients together and allow to macerate for at least an hour - up to 12 hours. 

You can place half the mixture into the food processor, but don't blend it all, it is best a little chunky. 

GUACAMOLE

Ingredients

• 2 ripe avocados
• juice of 1 lemon
• 1/4 of the coriander and garlic pulp mix (see above) 
• salt to taste

Roughly mash the avocado and stir in other ingredients. Set aside (chilled) for at least 1/2 an hour, up to 3 hours. 

TO SERVE 

• Corn chips or Tortillas

• Grated Cheese
• Sour Cream 
• Shredded Iceberg Lettuce
• Sliced Cucumber 
• Fresh Coriander leaves
• Sweet or Hot Chilli sauce

Serve alongside shredded beef, salsa, guacamole and pickled onions. 

Build your own and ENJOY. 

And of course, for those of you feeling extra creative, I recommend trying out some Margarita's on the side. Basil and Watermelon sounds deliciously refreshing. Find the recipe or pick any of the other 12 recommendations loaded here: Martha Stewart Margarita Gallery