Slow - cooked comfort

Make the most of your slow cooker this winter with our deliciously thrifty line-up of easy recipes.

- REBECCA LYALL, VIKKI MOURSELLAS AND ANGELA DEVLIN.

Pork sausage minestrone

SERVES 4 PREP AND COOK TIME 8 HOURS

• 250g pork and fennel sausages

• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

• 1 large

• (200g) onion, chopped finely

• 1 medium

• (120g) carrot, cut into

• 2cm pieces

• 2 (300g) celery stalks, cut into

• 2cm pieces

• 3 cloves garlic, crushed

• 2 teaspoons fennel seeds

• ½ teaspoon dried chilli flakes

• 400g can cherry tomatoes

• 1.5 litres (6 cups) chicken stock

• 2 small sprigs rosemary

• 60g soup pasta

• 400g can chickpeas, drained, rinsed

• ½ bunch (100g) cavolo nero, leaves stripped, chopped coarsely

• ½ cup (50g) finely grated parmesan

1 Squeeze the sausage meat from the casings in small pieces onto a plate lined with baking paper. Heat oil in a large non-stick frying pan over medium-high heat. Cook the sausage meat, turning, for 5 minutes or until golden. Remove sausage from pan; drain on paper towel.

2 Add the onion, carrot and celery to pan; cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes or until golden. Add the garlic, fennel seeds and chilli; cook, stirring, for 1 minute or until fragrant. Add tomatoes, stock and rosemary; bring to a simmer, scraping the bottom of the pan to release any caramelised bits of food.