My Pasta Sauce

I always thought we had a pretty healthy diet.  But then my Thermomix came along and now it is amazing how our trolley looks even healthier!  I spend so much less at the supermarket and completely avoid many of the isles.

The Thermomix makes it so much easier to make your own sauces from scratch and this recipe is a great example.  It means pasta sauces are a thing of the past for us.  And the flavour, it's beautiful.

My Pasta Sauce

Chop and saute one onion and two cloves of garlic.  I saute for a little longer than the usual two minutes for a more intense flavour; ie 3 - 4 mins on Varoma.

Add 1 can of tomatoes, 1 tbsp stock concentrate, 2 tbsp tomato paste, 100ml red wine (optional) and seasonings; basil, oregano, parsley (1tbsp dried or a handful if fresh)

Cook for 15 minutes/Varoma/sp 2. 

Voila!

Spanish Style Chicken

A friend of mine, who has also bought a Thermomix and hence become a customer, gave me this recipe.  She handed it over when I delivered her machine and asked me to convert it for the Thermomix.  It's taken a while, but here it is Narelle.

A few notes:
In this recipe I tried a new technique of cooking the chicken to improve the texture.  I cooked the thigh fillets whole.  I quite like them this way, its worth giving it a try and seeing what you think.
I have started cooking my own dried chickpeas in bulk and freezing them in portions, it's all in an effort to avoid canned food.  It saves money too!
You will notice I have cooked the onions for a little longer on Varoma temperature.  If you are short of time you can always just cook them for two minutes on 100', but I like them this way.
We steamed couscous on top with some peas.  To ensure they didn't fall in the slits I placed a piece of baking paper in the Varoma bowl and slashed some steaming holes in it with a knife (see picture)

Spanish Style Chicken

Ingredients
1 onion quartered
2 cloves of garlic, peeled
1 tbsp olive oil
2 small carrots, roughly chopped
1 capsicum, deseeded and quartered
400g can of tomatoes
400g can of chickpeas (or precooked chickpeas)
1 tbsp stock concentrate
2 tsp paprika
1 tsp crushed chili (optional, I add harissa at the end to the adults meals to spice it up)
2 potatoes, cubed into 2cm cubes
4 chicken thigh fillets
150g couscous
100g frozen peas
broccoli florets (not shown)
finely chopped mint and coriander for garnish and flavour


Method
Place couscous and frozen peas into a small bowl of warm water to presoak
Place onion and garlic in TM bowl and chop 5secs/sp5
Add oil and saute 4mins/Varoma/Sp2
Add carrots and capsicum and chop roughly 5secs/sp4
Add tomatoes, chickpeas, concentrate, spices, potatoes and stir with spatula to combine
Place chicken fillets on top of ingredients and place lid in place
Cook 17 mins/Varoma/reverse/soft speed
Prepare Varoma tray with Glad Bake as mentioned above and place couscous and peas on paper
Place Varoma onto lid and steam
Prepare broccoli florets onto Varoma tray
After 17 mins, check chicken and potatoes to see if done, stir couscous and place
Cook 5 minutes/Varoma/reverse/soft speed with couscous and broccoli in place
Serve with mint and corriander

And as I say  - Dinners done! Enjoy