I love my crockpot!

Honestly, in the cold winter weather, I often wonder what I’d do without it. This is especially true during busy weeks like the one just ended; it’s not uncommon for me to use my crockpot two or even three times over the course of seven days.

So you can imagine my dismay when I came home two nights in a row last week to an under-done crockpot meal, and had to admit that my 30-year-old appliance (a birthday gift from my parents when I was young, single and had just moved into my first apartment) had seen its last meal. The meat had cooked through, but on both nights, the veggies were still too crunchy. Now ordinarily, I like my vegetables tender-crisp, but not in a crockpot meal; as a result of the vegetables being undercooked, the overall flavour of the meal suffered because the fullness of the flavours hadn’t seeped out of those vegetables into the surrounding sauces.

Fortunately, my wonderful hubby knows how much I rely on this little appliance, and he surprised me with a lovely new one.

So this week, I used my new crockpot for the first (and second!) times.

On Wednesday, we all came home to a house filled with the aroma of a hearty, savoury, garlicky Sausage Minestrone. It’s a recipe I had cut out of a magazine ages ago, but this was the first time I’ve ever made it.

If you like Italian sausage, this is definitely worth a try. You need only add your favourite loaf of fresh, crusty bread and a green salad to make the meal complete.

My family are meat eaters, so I doubled the quantity of sausage called for in the original recipe, upped the amount of garlic slightly, and used an Italian Seasoning mix instead of the straight oregano as called for. I’m also lucky enough to have my own garden tomatoes in the freezer – stewed up last fall with fresh basil and green peppers (also from the garden) – so I used those instead of the canned variety. Since this recipe is meant to be cooked on top of the stove, I simply browned the sausage meat, and then threw everything into the crockpot together (with the exception of the pasta, which I forgot to add). Mouth-wateringly delicious!

Sausage Minestrone

2 T. vegetable oil (I eliminated the oil altogether and just sautéed the sausage in a pan coated with non-stick spray)

3 mild Italian sausages, casings removed

1 onion, chopped

1 c. each, diced celery and carrot

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 tsp. oregano (I think I used about a tsp. of Italian Seasoning)

1/4 tsp. each salt and pepper

1 can (28 oz.) diced tomatoes

1 can (19 oz.) red kidney beans, rinsed and drained

1/2 c. dried alphabet pasta

Method: In Dutch oven, heat 1 T. oil over med-high heat; sauté sausages, breaking up with spoon, until browned, about 8 minutes. Transfer to paper towel-lined plate. Drain fat from pan.

Add remaining oil to pan. Sauté onion, celery, carrot, garlic, oregano, salt and pepper until softened, about 5 minutes.

Return sausages to pan. Add tomatoes, beans and 8 cups water; bring to boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until vegetables are tender, about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, in saucepan of boiling salted water, cook pasta until tender but firm, about 6 minutes. Drain and add to soup.

Makes about 10 cups or 8 to 10 servings.

***

Is there anything that says “welcome home” …

… better than pot roast can?

To celebrate our oldest daughter’s homecoming from university yesterday, I wanted to make something warm and rich and wonderful for dinner. But as I had to be at the office of a client all day, I knew that “that something” would have to come from my crockpot.

In the mood to try something a little different, I did a quick Internet search for pot roast, and came upon this recipe.

Food purists might balk at the pre-packaged ingredients. But on a busy day, that’s exactly what appealed to me. The recipe is simple – has only a couple of ingredients (all of which I had on hand), and I knew I could throw it together quickly and easily, always an important consideration at 6 a.m.

The only thing I did differently was this: we had some lovely Italian red wine (made by our lovely Italian neighbour) so I added some of that (I’m guessing about a half-cup) to the mixture, thinking it might help further tenderize the meat and enhance flavours. I set the crockpot on low and it did its thing while I was out all day.

When I got home, I took the recipe’s advice and roasted the vegetables separately. I cut up a large onion, scrubbed and cut (in one-inch chunks) half-a-dozen potatoes and a couple handfuls of baby carrots. Tossed everything together with some olive oil, coarse salt and Herbes de Provence, then spread the works on a tray and baked for about 40 minutes in a 400 degree oven.

Dinner was scrumptious! The roast literally fell apart, the vegetables demanded second helpings and the gravy was thick, rich, silky smooth and intensely satisfying.

Our hungry student’s reaction? At first mouthful, she closed her eyes and tilted her head back – ever so slightly. She didn’t chew. She didn’t move. I honestly wondered for the briefest moment if she might be praying.

When she opened her eyes and saw we were all staring at her, she laughed, “Just savouring every one of the flavours.”

Welcome home, honey.

***

“An ordinary meal is an extraordinary coming together of life … The sharing of such meals is the most ordinary of human endeavours … and, at the same time, the most extraordinary. The most earthly … and the most heavenly. The most routine … and the most spiritual.” – Eugene H. Peterson