WW POINTS AND NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION

Serves 4 – per serving = 15 points or 459 cals, 20.6g fat, 51.8g carbs, 18.6g fat

INGREDIENTS

• 240g pasta, dried
• 75g chorizo, peeled and diced
• 3 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely sliced
• 125g cherry tomatoes, halved
• Half a head of broccoli (159g) florets finely chopped (leave stems out)
• 2 tbsp chilli pesto
• 20g Parmesan
• Ball of burrata

METHOD

1. Pop the pasta on to cook.
2. Spray a large frying pan with low calorie cooking spray, bring to a medium heat and add the chorizo.
3. Fry for 3-4 minutes until the oils start to release from the chorizo. Add a little water to the pan if it gets dry.
4. Once the oil has coloured, add the tomatoes and broccoli and fry for another 3-4 minutes until the tomatoes burst and release their juice and the broccoli has started to soften. Add the garlic for the last minute of cooking.
5. Next add the pesto and a large splash of pasta water. Cook for a minute then add half the ball of burrata.
6. Simmer for a few minutes until the burrata melts into the sauce and it starts to thicken.
7. Add the pasta to the sauce pan (reserving the pasta water) along with the Parmesan and simmer for a few minutes until the sauce coats the pasta nicely. Add more pasta water to the pan and keep simmering to you have a nice glossy sauce. Taste and season with salt and black pepper as required.
8. Remove from the heat, add the other half of the burrata to the middle of the pan and sprinkle with a little fresh basil.
9. Finish with a sprinkle of chilli flakes (or the spicy onion crunch I used).

Enjoy!

As always, if you like my recipes don’t forget my cookbook ‘Slimming Kitchen Secrets’, which includes over 80 delicious easy healthy recipes, is available now!

The post Chorizo, Broccoli and Burrata pasta first appeared on Slimming Kitchen Secrets.

Variations

If you want to bulk this one out, you could always fry some finely chopped onion and sliced mushrooms once the bacon is crispy. No extra points but a bigger portion all round.

If you fancy mixing it up entirely you could replace the bacon with chorizo and once the oils have released, throw in some chopped spring onion. Up to 22g of chorizo will mean the dish is the same amount of smart points. Remember to peel the chorizo before you dice and cook so the oils can seep out and flavour everything  nicely.

Making for a small person?

Fancy making it for a baby too? Make the adults sauce base (egg yolk, parmesan and cream cheese) in one bowl and in a separate bowl make a mini version which omits the egg (ideally using full fat cream cheese and parmesan). Make the rest of the recipe as below, just remember not to add salt to anything (I would probably cook the pastas separately too so you can salt the adults pasta water). Once the pasta and peas are cooked, take a little of the bacon mixture from the main pan, pop it in a smaller pan and then separate the pasta and peas into the two different pans adding the relevant sauce. Season the adults with salt and pepper to taste (and crushed chillies if you like a kick like me)!

Smart Points and Nutritional Information

Serves 2 – Per Serving:

• 11sp on BLUE, 15sp on GREEN and 6sp on PURPLE (when made with wholewheat pasta)
• 322 Cals – 14.1g Fat – 27.4g Carbs 25.8g Protein

Ingredients

120g spaghetti, dried

30g garden peas, frozen

4 rashers of back bacon (smoked or unsmoked, fat removed and diced into 1cm chunks)

3 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped

3 egg yolks

40g parmesan, grated

50g lightest cream cheese

Handful of basil/parsley, finely chopped

Method

Pop a large pan of boiling water on a high heat and add 1 tsp of salt.

Take a small bowl and add the egg yolks. Whisk and then add the parmesan and cream cheese.  Season with black pepper and then whisk again until you have a smooth mixture.

Next pop the pasta in the pan to cook and add the peas for the last 2-3 minutes.

Whilst the pasta and peas are cooking, spray a frying pan with 1kal and once hot, add the bacon. Fry the bacon for a few minutes and once it’s starting to crisp up, add the garlic (with a little splash of water if the pan is getting a little dry). Fry for another few minutes until the garlic softens and then reduce the heat to low.

Once the pasta is cooked, lift it out the water with tongs (rather than draining it) and pop it straight into the pan with the bacon. Use a slotted spoon to lift out any remaining peas and pop them into the bacon pan too. You want a little bit of the pasta water to splash in to the bacon pan to help the sauce stick to the pasta. Stir to combine and then switch off the heat. Next, pour the sauce mixture into the spaghetti/bacon pan with everything else and stir together with the pasta quickly so the sauce becomes nice and smooth (if it’s on the heat, the eggs could scramble so make sure its off!!) If the sauce is still a little thick, you can add an extra splash of the pasta water to loosen it up.

Season with salt and pepper to taste. Finish with a sprinkle of basil/parsley and a little extra parmesan if you fancy.

Enjoy!

Print

Spaghetti Carbonara

Nutritional Information

Serves 2 - Per Serving

11sp on BLUE, 15sp on GREEN and 6sp on PURPLE (when made with wholewheat pasta)

Calories - 322

Fat - 14.1g

Carbs - 27.4g

Protein - 25.8g

Course Main Course, Pasta, Starter

Cuisine Italian

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 15 minutes minutes

Servings 2 people

Calories 322kcal

Ingredients

• 120 g spaghetti dried
• 30 g garden peas frozen
• 4 rashers of back bacon smoked or unsmoked, fat removed and diced into 1cm chunks
• 3 cloves of garlic peeled and finely chopped
• 3 egg yolks
• 40 g parmesan grated
• 50 g lightest cream cheese
• Handful of basil/parsley finely chopped

Instructions

• Pop a large pan of boiling water on a high heat and add 1 tsp of salt.
• Take a small bowl and add the egg yolks. Whisk and then add the parmesan and cream cheese. Season with black pepper and then whisk again until you have a smooth sauce..
• Next pop the pasta in the pan to cook and add the peas for the last 2-3 minutes of the pasta cooking time.
• Whilst the pasta and peas are cooking, spray a frying pan with 1kal and once hot, add the bacon. Fry the bacon for a few minutes and once it’s starting to crisp up, add the garlic (with a little splash of water if the pan is getting a little dry). Fry for another few minutes until the garlic softens and then reduce the heat to low.
• Once the pasta is cooked, lift it out the water with tongs (rather than draining it) and pop it straight into the pan with the bacon. Use a slotted spoon to lift out any remaining peas and pop them into the bacon pan too. You want a little bit of the pasta water to splash in to the bacon pan to help the sauce stick to the pasta. Stir to combine and then switch off the heat.
• Next, pour the sauce mixture into the spaghetti/bacon pan with everything else and stir together with the pasta quickly so the sauce becomes nice and smooth (if it's on the heat, the eggs could scramble so make sure its off!!) If the sauce is still a little thick, you can add an extra splash of the pasta water to loosen it up.
• Season with salt and pepper to taste. Finish with a sprinkle of basil/parsley and a little extra parmesan if you fancy.
• Enjoy!

The post Spaghetti Carbonara first appeared on Slimming Kitchen Secrets.

POINTS AND NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION

Serves 6 – per serving = 6 points or 534 cals, 22.9g fat, 30.2g carbs, 47.5g protein

Ingredients

800g extra lean diced beef steak

1 onion, peeled and finely sliced

80g chorizo, peeled and sliced into thin rounds

2 red peppers, deseeded and sliced

250g chestnut mushrooms, sliced

4 garlic cloves, finely minced

1 tsp chilli flakes

2 tsp each of paprika and dried oregano

125ml red wine

2 x 400g tins of chopped tomatoes

1 beef stock cube made up with 500ml boiling water

2 bay leaves

Low calorie cooking spray

Salt and pepper

For the potato top

600g Maris Piper potatoes, peeled and cubed

50ml skimmed milk

1 tbsp light butter

½ beef stock cube, crumbled

80g gruyere cheese, finely grated

Method

1. Take a large ovenproof pan with a lid. Spray with low-calorie cooking spray, add the beef (you may need to do this in batches), season with salt and pepper and fry until sealed. Remove the beef from the pan.
2. Spray the same pan again with low-calorie cooking spray, add the onion and chorizo and fry for 5–6 minutes until the onion starts to soften and the chorizo oils release. Add a little water to the pan if it starts to get dry.
3. Add the peppers, mushrooms, garlic and chilli flakes and fry for another minute. Add the paprika and oregano, fry for a minute, then pour in the red wine. Simmer for a few minutes until the wine starts to reduce and then add the tomatoes, stock and bay leaves.
4. Add the beef back to the pan, season, stir and bring to the boil, then pop on a lid and reduce to a simmer. At this point, you can either simmer the stew on the hob on low for 2 hours, stirring regularly, or pop in the oven at 180°C for 2 hours. Either way, remove the lid for the last 15 minutes of cooking to thicken the stew up a little.
5. While the stew is simmering, boil the potatoes in lightly salted water for 15 minutes until they are soft. Drain the potatoes and add to a large bowl, then mash (or preferably rice) the potato until smooth.
6. Warm the milk with the butter and add to the potato. Mix until the mash is nice and smooth. Don’t overmix as you don’t want the mash to go gluey. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
7. Once cooked, pour the stew into a large baking dish and let cool (for around half an hour if you have time) – this will stop the mash sinking into the beef. Next, add the mash to the top of the stew (or pipe on if you are feeling fancy).
8. Crumble over the half beef stock cube, sprinkle over the Gruyère and then pop back in the oven (on 180°C fan) for 30 minutes, so the top of the mash goes nice and crispy.
9. Remove from the oven and leave to rest for 5 minutes before you serve.

The post Cheesy Potato Topped Beef and Chorizo Stew first appeared on Slimming Kitchen Secrets.

Mac and Chorizo Bake

Serves 6 = 13sp per serving on BLUE, GREEN and PURPLE

(if you omit the chorizo this works out at 11sp per serving on every plan)

Ingredients

40g light lurpack

40g plain flour

2 tsp Dijon mustard

450ml skimmed milk

160g reduced fat mature cheddar cheese, grated

1 tsp paprika

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

Crushed chillies to taste (optional)

360g macaroni, dried

100g garden peas, frozen

50g chorizo, peeled and diced

Small punnet of cherry tomatoes, halved

16g panko breadcrumbs

Method

Cook the macaroni according to the packet instructions (mine needed boiling in salted water for 11 minutes). Add the peas for the last 5 minutes. Drain once cooked (reserve a little of the pasta water) and pop to one side.

Meanwhile, take a medium sized sauce pan and add the lurpack. Melt on a medium heat and then add the flour and mustard. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring all the time. Reduce the heat to low and then begin to gradually add the milk, again keep stirring all the time. Continue to cook for 5 minutes until the sauce begins to thicken. Remove from the heat and add 100g of the cheese. Season with salt and pepper and add the paprika, cayenne pepper and crushed chillies (if you are having them). Stir to combine and pop to one side.

Next take a small frying pan, spray with 1kal and add the chorizo. Fry on a medium heat until the chorizo starts to sizzle and the oils begin to release. Using tongs remove the chorizo from the pan and pop into the cheese sauce (leave the oil in the frying pan).

Add the tomatoes to the frying pan and fry in the chorizo oil on a high heat for 3-4 minutes until the tomatoes are a little charred.

Give the cheese sauce a stir and if its a little thick add a small splash of the pasta water to loosen then add the macaroni, peas and tomatoes to the cheese sauce and stir everything together.

Add the mixture to a large baking dish.

Top with the rest of the cheese, the breadcrumbs, a sprinkle of paprika and a twist of salt and pepper.

Pop in the oven for 15 minutes until the top is nice and golden.

Serve and enjoy!

The post Mac and Chorizo Bake first appeared on Slimming Kitchen Secrets.

You can also add chicken breast to the recipe below without adding any extra smartpoints but this changes the method of cooking the skewers. Instead of grilling them, as set out in the method below, pre heat your oven to 180c, spray with 1kal, season and cook on a baking tray for 30-35 minutes (until the chicken is cooked through).

Souvlaki Style Chorizo and Halloumi Kebabs

Serves 2 = 11sp per serving

Ingredients

50g chorizo, sliced into 8 rounds

100g light halloumi sliced into 8 chunks

2 peppers, deseeded and sliced into chunks

1 large red onion (or 2 small), peeled, top and bottom cut off and quartered

Handful of cherry tomatoes (optional)

Juice of 1 lemon

½ tsp each of paprika and oregano

1 tsp honey

Salt and pepper

250g new potatoes (should be around 6 new potatoes, 3 each)

Large lettuce (of your choice) to be used as ‘wraps’ – I’ve used romaine, iceberg and Chinese

Method

Pre heat the oven to 180c.

To begin, place 4 skewers in clean sink with cold water and soak for half an hour (this will prevent the skewers burning when you cook the kebabs).

Next prepare the new potatoes. Take each potato in turn, pop onto a wooden spoon and starting at one side cut across their width at small intervals to create the ‘hassleback’ effect. The spoon will stop you cutting all the way through the potato.  Pop onto a baking tray, spray with 1kal and sprinkle over a pinch of oregano, paprika, salt and pepper. Pop into the oven for 40-50 minutes until golden and cooked through.

Whilst the potatoes are cooking you can assemble the kebabs. To each skewer add a piece of pepper, chorizo, red onion, halloumi, tomato (if using) and then repeat. Finish the skewer with a final piece of pepper and red onion.  You can either pop the skewers in the oven for 10-15 minutes (to cook with the potatoes) or pop under a hot grill for 10 minutes (turning regularly) until the halloumi starts to turn a lovely golden colour.

Mix the juice of 1 lemon with ½ tsp paprika and ½ tsp oregano, along with 1 tsp honey and salt and pepper.

Add two washed large lettuce leaves to each plate. Remove the skewers from the oven and pop onto your plates on top of the lettuce leaves (you should have two skewers per person). Drizzle over the honey lemon dressing.

Finally pop the potatoes onto the plate.

Enjoy!

The post Souvlaki Style Chorizo and Halloumi Kebabs – 11sp first appeared on Slimming Kitchen Secrets.

The slow cooker is one of my favourite kitchen accessories and something I know a lot of my followers regularly rely on to rustle up gorgeous meals with minimum preparation.

Being able to pop dinner in the slow cooker in the morning helps me to feel uber organised and ready for the day ahead and for me, there is nothing better than being greeted by the delicious smell of dinner bubbling away when I come home from work in an evening.

Building a few staple slow cooker recipes into your weekly meal plan will allow you to plan ahead, reduce the preparation time of any meal and ultimately keep on track. For me, having a slow cooker meal ready in the evening means that I get back that little bit of extra time to take myself off to the gym or go to a class, without having to eat too late in the evening. It also means that I know exactly how many points I will be using for my evening meal early that morning, so I can plan the rest of the day’s food and points easily around it.

Very Lazy

Being an avid fan and user of the Very Lazy Garlic and Ginger products, when the lovely folks there approached me to try out their new range of Slow Cooking Paste Pots, I jumped at the chance. The pots come in four flavours; Chicken and Chorizo Stew, Aromatic Thai Chicken Curry, Harissa Lamb Tagine and Sausage and Lentil Casserole – all very much my kind of vibe! The packaging is great as it lets you know exactly what you need to pop onto your shopping list and provides a simple method to create the meal. Each pot also includes a recipe for a vegetarian alternative and, since the pots are vegan and veggie friendly, they can be tweaked to suit your own dietary requirements.

Best of all, the pots are low in points which means they fit into the WW plan very nicely! I’ve included the Smart Points for each of the pots below (as calculated using the barcode scanner in the WW app). The total number of points for each dish would need to be calculated once each of the extra ingredients has been accounted for when making up the recipe.

Smart Points per Paste Pot:

• Chicken and Chorizo Stew – 2sp
• Aromatic Thai Chicken Curry – 3sp
• Harissa Lamb Tagine – 3sp
• Sausage and Lentil Casserole – 4sp

Chicken and Chorizo Stew

Chicken and chorizo is one of my all time favourite meal combo’s and so I knew I would have to give the stew a whirl first. The result was delicious – creamy, smoky and bursting with flavour. Best of all, it took virtually no preparation to rustle up this delicious dinner.

I’ve included the full recipe that I made for you here, as well as the overall points value for the dish. I’ve tweaked the recipe here and there to make it as WW friendly as possible whilst keeping the same delicious flavour. The main tweaks I’ve made are to replace the chicken thigh with chicken breast (since chicken breast is 0sp), use reduced fat soured cream instead of crème fraiche (even reduced fat crème fraiche is double the points of reduced fat soured cream) and I’ve upped the veg content to bulk out the dish a little more. I’ve also added coriander and a sprinkle of crushed chillies at the end to add freshness and up the flavour without adding extra points. If you want to bulk out the dish further, you could add 400g of raw new potatoes (halved) at the same time as the onions and pepper. This would make the dish 7sp per serving. I served with green beans for some extra 0sp colour and crunch.

The pots are currently available exclusively in Tesco and each pack (priced at £2 per pack) comes with 3 paste pots inside.

Chicken and Chorizo Stew

Serves 4 – 5sp per serving (Flex)

Ingredients

1 x Very Lazy Chicken and Chorizo Paste Pot

400g chicken breast (4 whole breasts)

75g chorizo sausage, skinned and sliced

1 x onion, finely diced

2 x peppers, deseeded and sliced

1 x 400g tin of butter beans, drained

1 x 400g tin of chopped tomatoes

1/4 tsp sugar

Juice of 1 lime

75g reduced soured cream

Handful of fresh coriander, roughly chopped

Sprinkle of crushed chillies

Method

1. Place the chicken, chorizo, onion, pepper, butter beans, tomatoes, sugar and paste into your slow cooker along with 200ml of water and mix together.
2. Place the lid on the cooker, turn to low and cook for 8-10 hours.
3. Remove the lid, add the lime juice and stir.
4. Add the soured cream, season, stir and serve into four bowls (I added one chicken breast to each bowl and topped with the rest of the stew).
5. Top with a sprinkling of fresh coriander and crushed chillies.

Enjoy!

This post has been produced in brand partnership with Very Lazy. Whilst it is a sponsored post, this in no way affects my opinion of the products or the content of my review; all views expressed are my own.

The post Very Lazy Slow Cooker Paste Pots – Chicken and Chorizo Stew – 5sp first appeared on Slimming Kitchen Secrets.

This recipe is the perfect January recipe to get you kick started for the new year. It has the lovely comforting warmness that any winter dish needs, but the crab, chorizo and chilli combo bring a lovely fresh and vibrant flavour to the dish. Using orzo instead of risotto brings the cooking time right down so it can be made much more quickly if you are in a rush. If you can’t get a hold of fresh crab meat, tinned crab meat will work just as well. Most supermarkets have samphire these days and for such an easy ingredient to cook, it brings a lovely fresh crunch to the dish. If you can’t get a hold of any samphire I would add a handle of frozen garden peas to the dish ten minutes before it’s finished so that it keeps a nice green burst.

Crab, Chorizo and Chilli Orzo with Samphire

Serves 2 = 11sp each

Ingredients

1 x white onion, peeled and finely diced

2 x garlic cloves, peeled and finely minced

1 x red chilli, finely chopped (and deseeded if you don’t like it too hot)

40g chorizo, peeled and sliced into half moons

1 tbsp tomato puree

125ml white wine

120g orzo, dried

½ litre vegetable stock (made with 1 vegetable stock cube)

125g cooked white crab meat

Large handful of parsley, finely chopped

Juice of 1 lemon

Small pack of samphire

1 tsp lurpack lightest

Method

1. Take a large saucepan and pop onto a medium heat. Spray with 1kal and add the onions. Fry for 4-5 minutes until the onions start to soften (add a little water if the pan gets dry).

2. Add the garlic, chilli and chorizo and fry for another minute until the oil from the chorizo starts to release. Then add the tomato puree, fry for another minute and then add the wine.

3. Simmer the wine for a few minutes until the wine reduces and then add the orzo, stirring in.

4. Add half the stock so that it covers the orzo turning down to simmer.

5. Keep adding the stock until the orzo is cooked (it usually takes 12-15 minutes). Once the orzo is cooked and the stock is absorbed, add the crab meat and season to taste. Toss the crab meat through the orzo until it is warm.

6. Add the parsley and juice of 1 lemon and then take off the heat. Leave to rest for a minute while you cook the samphire.

7. Boil the samphire in another pan for 2-3 minutes. Drain and pop back into the same pan with the butter. Let the butter melt with the heat of the pan and toss through the samphire.

8. Serve the orzo in a bowl topped with the samphire.

9. Enjoy!

The post Crab, Chorizo and Chilli Orzo with Samphire – 11sp first appeared on Slimming Kitchen Secrets.

If you prefer a ‘pulled’ chilli you can also make it this way. Instead of cubing the chicken breast, leave it whole. Add it to the dish at the same point and once cooked through, shred with two forks (make sure you do this before you add the beans, coriander and sour cream).

POINTS AND NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION

Serves 6 – per serving = 4 points or 311 cals, 10.0g fat, 21.5g carbs, 32.5g protein

Ingredients

1 x white onion, diced

90g chorizo ring, skin removed and sliced

3 peppers, deseeded and diced

2 red chillies, finely chopped (deseeded if you don’t like it too hot)

3 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely minced

250g chestnut mushrooms, sliced

2 tsp chilli powder

1 tsp each of ground cumin, paprika, smoked paprika and sugar

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp cayenne pepper

2 tbsp tomato puree

400g tin of chopped tomatoes

1 x chicken stock cube made up with 250ml boiling water

2 tsp cornflour

400g chicken breast, raw, cubed

400g tin kidney beans in water, drained

400g tin of cannellini or butter beans in water, drained

3 tbsp light soured cream

15g fresh coriander, roughly chopped

Low calorie cooking spray

Salt and black pepper

Method

1. Take a large saucepan, spray with low-calorie cooking spray and add the onion. Fry for 5–6 minutes until it starts to soften, adding a little water if the pan starts to get dry.
2. Next, add the chorizo, peppers and chilli and fry for another 2 minutes until the oil from the chorizo starts to release. Then, add the garlic and mushrooms and fry for another couple of minutes.
3. Add the chilli powder, cumin, paprika, smoked paprika, sugar, salt and cayenne pepper. Stir the spices through the vegetables and add a splash of water so they don’t burn.
4. Add the tomato purée, stir and fry for a moment, and then add the chopped tomatoes and the chicken stock. Stir to combine everything together.
5. Pop the cornflour into a small cup and add a splash of cold water to it to make a thick paste. Add to the saucepan. Then add the raw diced chicken.
6. Bring to the boil and then reduce to a simmer for 20 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce has thickened nicely.
7. Add the beans and simmer for another 10 minutes.
8. Turn off the heat and add the sour cream and fresh coriander. Stir through, season to taste and serve with the accompaniments of your choice.

The post Chicken and Chorizo Chilli first appeared on Slimming Kitchen Secrets.

After doing a bit of brainstorming over what I fancied, I set my mind on creating a new risotto dish as I thought this would be the perfect way to retain the lovely smoky flavour of the garlic. The flavour of the garlic goes so well with both the paprika flavour in the chorizo and freshness of the prawns, and the addition of fennel to this dish really lifts it to a whole new level.

If you aren’t a fan of fennel, feel free to omit it from the dish. I blended my chorizo and I wanted the flavour to infuse throughout the dish however if you don’t fancy blending it, just chop it as finely as you can manage.

I don’t usually use oil or butter in my dishes but since an Italian chef told me that a risotto wasn’t a real risotto without both, I always now include a little of each (the oil is essential in toasting the rice so it retains a nice bite and the butter gives the risotto the creamy sheen at the end).

You can see the full selection of Very Lazy products over on their website http://www.verylazy.com/ and you can purchase their products in most major supermarkets. The smoked garlic and chillies are available in Tesco now!

Chorizo, Prawn and Fennel Risotto

Serves 2 = 12sp per serving

Ingredients

Punnet of cherry/baby plum tomatoes (around 300g)

300g prawns raw or cooked

1 tsp fennel seeds

1 tsp olive oil

1 large onion, peeled and finely diced

30g chorizo, peeled and blended (or chopped into tiny crumbs)

2 tsp each Very Lazy smoked garlic and chopped red chillies

1 tsp dried oregano

2 tsp tomato puree

100g Arborio rice

125ml white wine

½ stock cube (chicken or veg), made up with 750ml boiling water

1 tbsp parmesan, grated

1 tsp lighter lurpack

Handful of fresh parsley and thyme, finely chopped

1 lemon, halved

Method

To begin, fill and boil the kettle. Then take a large non-stick sauce pan and add the fennel seeds. Toast on a medium heat for a couple of minutes until you can smell their lovely aroma and then remove from the pan and pop into a pestle and mortar. Pound the fennel seeds until they form a course powder (if you don’t have a pestle and mortal you can use a bowl and the end of a rolling pin!)

Next, take the same saucepan; add the olive oil and onions and fry on a medium heat for 5-6 minutes until the onions are soft. Season the onions and then add the chorizo, 1 tsp of smoked garlic, 1 tsp chopped red chillies, the ground fennel and 1 tsp oregano to the pan. Fry for another 3 minutes until the chorizo has turned the onion mixture a light red colour. Next, add the tomato puree to the pan, mix in and fry for another minute. Then add the Arborio rice, stir and toast the rice for a minute. Add the wine and simmer until reduced by half.

Next, mix the stock cube with the boiling water and then add 250ml of it to the rice. Stir and begin to simmer, letting the rice absorb the stock. Keep adding the stock a little at a time as it absorbs until you have used it all (this should take around 25 minutes – you made need a little more or a little less depending on the heat of your hob). Once most of the liquid has absorbed, and the rice is cooked nicely, reduce the heat to very low and add the parmesan and butter. Stir through, taste and then season with salt and pepper to your taste. Leave the risotto on a very low heat whilst you cook the tomatoes and prawns.

Spray a non-stick frying pan with 1kal and add the tomatoes cut side down. Season with salt and pepper and fry for 3-4 minutes until the tomatoes have a nice colour on the cut side. Add most of the tomatoes to the risotto, reserving a few to dress the dish at the end.

In the same frying pan, spray with 1kal and add 1 tsp of smoked garlic and 1 tsp crushed red chillies. Add the prawns and fry for a couple of minutes on each side until cooked through. Turn the heat off the prawns and squeeze over the juice of ½ lemon. Add most of the prawns to the risotto (use a spoon or fork as you don’t want all the extra chilli and garlic in the risotto pan), reserving a few to dress the dish at the end.

Finally, remove the risotto from the heat and add the juice of ½ lemon and the fresh parsley. Stir through and then serve in a bowl topped with the reserved tomatoes and prawns.

Enjoy!

Please note, this recipe forms part of a paid collaboration with Very Lazy however all views on the products are my own.

The post Very Lazy Chorizo, Prawn and Fennel Risotto – 12sp first appeared on Slimming Kitchen Secrets.

At only 4sp per portion, this recipe takes advantage of some of the new fabulous zero SP foods (black beans and kidney beans) as well as a few of the old 0sp favourites (my favourite, butternut squash) to give it a lovely earthy, savoury flavour, with a hit of smoky chorizo to pack it with flavour and interest.

It’s a recipe that can be made in an evening for dinner or equally split between a few Tupperware dishes and kept for packed lunches in the week.

Brazilian Chorizo and Black Bean Stew

Serves 4 = 4sp per serving (flex)

Ingredients

60g chorizo, chopped into thin half moon shapes

1 large onion, peeled and finely chopped

2 peppers (I used red and yellow), deseeded and diced

2 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped

1 red chilli, finely chopped

1 tsp each smoked paprika and cumin

½ tsp ground coriander

½ small butternut squash, peeled, seeds removed and chopped into 1cm cubes (around 400g)

1 chicken stock cube made up with 400ml boiling water

1 x 400g tin of chopped tomatoes

1 x 400g tin of black beans, drained

1 x 400g tin of kidney beans, drained

Handful of fresh coriander, roughly chopped

4tsp lightest soured cream

Method

Take a large frying pan, spray with 1kal and put on a medium heat. Add the chorizo and onion and fry for a few minutes until the oils in the chorizo start to release and the onions start to soften. Add a little water to stop the onions sticking if required.

Next add the pepper, garlic and chilli and fry for another 3-4 minutes then add the smoked paprika, cumin, ground coriander and butternut squash cubes. Fry for another minute and then add the chicken stock and chopped tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper, bring to the boil and then reduce to a simmer for 20 minutes (or until the BNS is soft enough to eat but not mushy). Add a little more water if the sauce gets too thick.

Add the drained black beans and kidney beans and simmer for a final 5 minutes.

Serve topped with a handful of fresh coriander and a tsp of sour cream per person.

Enjoy!

The post Brazilian Chorizo and Black Bean Stew – 4sp first appeared on Slimming Kitchen Secrets.