Three easy slow cooker recipes

“Being Irish, it won't be a surprise that I like Guinness or that I like cakes,” says Nathan Anthony. “Traditionally made pies can be a labor of love, but this is the easiest pie recipe you'll ever make: just throw it in, let it cook during the day, add a puff pastry top and serve. Honestly, it's that easy.”

Slow Cooker Steak and Guinness Cake

It serves:

Ingredients:

800 g beef fillet or loin (or 1 kg breast), chopped

440ml Guinness can.

200 ml meat broth

1 tablespoon tomato puree

1 teaspoon dried rosemary

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 bay leaf

1 tablespoon brown sugar

2 carrots, coarsely chopped

1 red onion, chopped

1 stick of celery, chopped

1 heaping tablespoon of corn flour

3 cloves of garlic, crushed

1 sheet of puff pastry already rolled

1 beaten egg to glaze the dough

Salt and pepper to taste

Tender stem broccoli and carrot and parsnip puree, to serve (optional)

Method:

1. Add all the ingredients, except the dough and egg, to the slow cooker.

2. Cook on high for four hours or on low for seven to eight hours. Discard the bay leaf.

3 Preheat the oven to 200C. Cover the meat filling with the puff pastry, place it around the cake and then spread with the beaten egg.

4. Place the oven-safe slow cooker (without lid) in the oven for 25 minutes until golden and crispy. If your slow cooker is not oven-safe, decant the filling into an oven-safe pot, cover with batter, brush with egg, and bake as directed above.

5. Serve with Tenderstem broccoli and carrot-parsnip puree, if desired.

Advice: To get the dough to the correct size, place the slow cooker lid on top of the puff pastry sheet and cut it before adding it to the slow cooker.

Carrot Cake and Overnight Oats

Typically served cold from the refrigerator, this warm version of overnight oats made in the slow cooker is next level,” says Anthony. “[It’s] a sneaky way to include vegetables in breakfast and, at the same time, savor carrot cake.”

It serves: 4

Ingredients:

500ml skimmed milk

150 g oatmeal porridge

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

A handful of nuts (about 50 g), chopped

200 g Greek yogurt

2 large carrots, grated

Serve:

25 g chopped walnuts

Zest of 1 orange

4 tablespoons of honey

Method:

1. Mix all ingredients except nuts, orange and honey in your slow cooker. Cook over low heat for eight hours. If you are an early riser, add everything and cook on high heat for three hours.

2. Serve with chopped walnuts, orange zest and a drizzle of honey.

Advice: If it looks a little dry at any point, add a splash more milk. If cooking overnight, add a few extra splashes at first so it doesn't dry out.

Bruschetta pasta with red pepper

This is the recipe Anthony came up with when he was trying to decide between two favorite dishes: bruschetta and pasta.

“The result is this soft pasta with a lot of flavor, crunchy croutons and a splash of balsamic: spectacular. “I enjoy making my own sourdough croutons in the air fryer or oven, but store-bought croutons work great if you don't have time,” he says.

It serves: 3

Ingredients:

2 300g jars roasted red peppers, chopped

15 cherry tomatoes, quartered

700 g passata

1 teaspoon dried oregano

4 cloves of garlic, grated

A generous handful of fresh basil

250 g fresh lasagna sheets, cut into thick strips

Salt and pepper to taste

4 teaspoons balsamic vinegar

Croutons

50g grated vegetarian Parmesan cheese, to serve

Method:

1. Add the peppers, tomatoes, passata, oregano, grated garlic, salt and pepper, and most of the basil to the slow cooker. Cook on high heat for two hours or on low heat for four hours.

2. Add the lasagna strands and cook for an additional 20-25 minutes (if cooking on low heat, you may need a little more time).

3. Place on a plate and top the pasta with the balsamic vinegar, croutons, parmesan and the rest of the fresh basil.

Tip: To make your own sourdough croutons, cube a couple of slices of bread, toss them in olive oil and place them in the air fryer at 200°C for six minutes, or on a baking sheet in a 200 oven. °C for 10 to 12 minutes.

'Boring of Lunch: Healthy Slow Cooker Even Easier' by Nathan Anthony (Ebury Press, £20).