Sausage Rolls

This recipe is adapted from Taste.com.au

Ingredients:
Filling

• 300g Beef mince
• 1 small onion
• 1 small carrot
• 1 small zucchini
• 1-2 tsp dried mixed herbs
• 0.5 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp garlic - crushed
• 1 egg

Pastry

• 2 sheets frozen low-sodium puff pastry (Pampas butter puff pastry)
• Milk to brush

Directions:

1. Heat the oven to ~200 degrees
2. Take the pastry out of the refrigerator - lay out to defrost
3. Chop the onion in a food-processor
4. Grate the zucchini and carrot in the food-processor
5. Put the onion, zucchini and carrot in a blender or stick-blender chopping barrel - chop within an inch of its life. What you want is "slurry".
6. Return the slurry to the food-processor (you can squeeze out extra water if you want first).
7. Run the food-processor on slow; add the herbs, garlic, herbs, pepper and egg and let the food-processor mix them in
8. Add the mince and run it on the slowest or second slowest for a few minutes to thoroughly combine and break the mince down into a much finer sausage-meat like consistency.
9. Cut pastry sheets in half
10. Shape one-quarter of the mince mixture into a sausage and place along 1 long edge of pastry. Roll up pastry to enclose mince mixture. Cut roll into 4. Place, seam side down, on prepared tray.
11. Brush sausage-roll tops with milk.
12. Repeat with remaining mince mixture and pastry.
13. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden and puffed.

Pasta a la Greg

Sorry my ingredients are a bit wishy washy - I just grab "enough".  Serves 6 or more.

Ingredients:

• 1 large or 2 small zucchini - cut lengthways, then slice
• 1 capsicum sliced - prefer red, green will do
• 1/2 a bag mushrooms - sliced
• 700g mince
• 700ml jar passata - I use Cirio which is low-sodium and cheap near me
• tablespoon minced garlic
• "mixed herbs" - I use the Hoyts mixed herbs - could just be oregano if you're short.  Probably around a teaspoon to a tablespoon - I just shake it until I'm happy
• red wine - around a glass
• some olive oil

Directions:

1. Heat frying pan to be fairly high.  Drop a little bit of oil on it and fry the zucchini and capsicum.  You want to keep the heat high, you're looking to just char them a little.  Take the veges from the pan and set aside.
2. Add a little more oil and drop the mushrooms on.  Drop the temperature to low after a minute or so.  Fry until they shrink a bit and some moisture comes out - eg almost cooked.  Set the mushrooms aside (I normally just drop them on the zucchini and capsicum and cover it with a lid).
3. Bring the pan back up to high temperature - drop the mince on the pan and sear it on both sides, then break it up and lower the temperature.  Stir the mince until its no longer red.
4. Drop the garlic and mixed herbs onto the mince and stir to mix - bring up the temperature to high.
5. Add the red-wine, mix it around under high-heat.  Wine should be boiling.  Add the passata and stir fast it until the mix starts to bubble.  Drop the temperature at that point.
6. Simmer.  Add the veges back and mix well.  If you like less well done veges add them later during the simmering.  Total simmering time should be at least 10 minutes.  I usually put the pasta on when the passata sauce mix starts bubbling, so the sauce is done when the pasta is ready (or the other way round ;-)

Slow Cooker Chilli Con Carne

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 onions dice
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1.5kg minced beef
• 4 tablespoon ground cumin
• 4 teaspoon paprika
• ½ cup salt skip beef stock powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1-2 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes
• 2 x 400g tin red kidney beans, drained and rinsed (1+ cups if using dry)
• 2 bay leaves
• Freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

1. In a large fry pan, heat oil over medium high heat and cook onions and garlic for 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally until soft. 
2. Add mince to fry pan in batches and cook until mince is brown and crumbly.  
3. Stir through dried spices and cook a further 1 minute until fragrant.
4. Transfer mixture to slow cooker, add tomatoes, red kidney beans and bay leaves. Cover and cook on High 3-4 hours or Low 6-8 hours. 
5. Remove bay leaves. Serve with rice and sour cream.

Rissoles.

Ingredients:

• 500 grams mince meat
• 1/2 cup rice crumbs
• 4 teaspoons salt skip vegetable stock
• 4 teaspoons or 4 cloves garlic
• 1 onion - minced
• 1 small carrot - grated
• 1 small zucchini - grated
• 1 egg
• 2 teaspoons mixed herbs
• Pepper
• Oil for frying

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients in a bowl.
2. Heat oil in a fry pan.
3. Create patties from mixture and fry until brown on both sides.

Lentil and Meat Hotpot

This recipe is from the book Baby Love by Robin Barker, but I added vegetables to it to make it more wholesome.  It is delicious and my daughter absolutely loves it.  She refuses to eat spaghetti bolognaise, but will devour this.

Ingredients:

• 200g red lentils
• 3 cups water
• olive oil
• 1 onion
• 200g mince meat
• 1 tablespoon no added salt tomato paste
• 1 carrot - grated
• 1 zuchinni - grated
• 4 mushrooms -chopped finely

Directions:

1. Boil three cups of water and add the lentils.  Simmer for about thirty minutes.
2. Heat oil in a fry pan.  Add onion and cook until soft.  Add meat and brown.  Add carrot, zuchinni and mushrooms (or any other vegetables you like).  Fry for a couple of minutes then add tomato paste and stir through.  Add lentils and bring to the boil.  If the mixture seems too thick add some water.  Cover and simmer for ten minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Serve with rice.

Meat Loaf.

Ingredients:

• 750g mince meat
• 1/4 cup no added salt tomato paste
• 1/4 cup no added salt tomato sauce
• 1 onion grated
• 1 carrot grated
• 1/2 zucchini grated
• 3 mushrooms chopped finely
• 2 teaspoons or 2 cloves garlic
• 1 egg lightly beaten
• 1 tablespoon mixed herbs
• 4 teaspoons salt skip vegetable stock
• Pepper
• 1/2 cup bread crumbs (You can make your own breadcrumbs by breaking up pieces of low salt bread and baking them in a low heated oven.  Once they are dried, place them in a food processor to turn into crumbs)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees.
2. Place all ingredients in a bowl and mix until well combined.
3. Place mixture into a greased oven tin and cook for 1 hour or until cooked through.