Microwave recipes

Spicy Turkey Risotto

• 75g onion, sliced
• 50g mushroom, chopped
• 50g green pepper, sliced
• 50g red pepper, sliced
• 50g canned sweetcorn
• 275g turkey breast, sliced into thin strips
• 200g Aborio Risotto Rice
• 1tsp lemon juice
• 1tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tsp. cumin
• 2/3 pint hot chicken stock
• pinch of saffron
• salt and pepper
• 75g pecorino cheese, grated

Method:

1) Mix together all the ingredients (except the pecorino) in a 2.5 l casserole dish.

2) Cook on MEDIUM-HIGH Power for 30minutes, stir twice during cooking.

3) When cooked remove the risotto from the oven, stir in the pecorino and serve hot.

• 175g self raising flour
• 175g sugar
• 175g butter, softened
• 3 eggs
• 3 tblspns milk or plain yoghurt
• 4 large apples, peeled and sliced into thick chunks
• 1 tblspn caster sugar
• 1 heaspn cinnamon

1. Place all the flour, sugar, butter, eggs and milk or yoghurt into a large mixing bowl. Beat until mixture is well combined and light and fluffy.
2. Line a large 30cm shallow cake pan with baking paper. Spread the cake mixture over the paper, then top with apples slices, in neat circles.
3. Combine the caster sugar and cinnamon together. Sprinkle over the apples.
4. Cook in a combination oven 200 degrees c of heat with microwave MEDIUM LOW power (350 watts) for 10 - 12 minutes, or on the CRSIP function of the Whirlpool Jet chef JT355 oven on the crisp function for 10 minutes, in the crisp plate
5. The cake can also be cooked in a microwave oven for 7 - 8 minutes on MEDIUM HIGH power.

• 25g butter
• 1 large onion, peeled and roughly chopped
• 2 level tblspns plain flour
• 2 tblspns tomato puree
• 750 gms fresh tomatoes, cut into quarters
• 1/2 teaspn caster sugar
• 1 teaspn dried basil
• salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 300ml milk
• 450ml hot chicken stock
• 4 tlspns cooked long grain rice
• 2 tblspns single cream ( optional - to serve)

1. Put the butter and onion into a large ovenproof bowl, cover and cook on HIGH power for 3 minutes, until the butter has melted and the onion softened. Stir in the flour, then the tomato puree, tomatoes, sugar, basil, salt, pepper and milk. Recover dish and cook on HIGH for 10 minutes until the tomatoes are broken down, stir well after 5 minutes.
2. Stir in the hot chicken stock, re-cover and continue cooking for 5 minutes. Pour mixture through a liquidiser and blend until smooth, then push through a sieve to remove all the skin and pips from the tomatoes.
3. Stir in the cooked rice, adjust seasonings to taste, pour into soup bowls, reheat for 1 - 2 minutes before serving if necessary and serve finished with a swirl of cream.

This soup freezes perfectly , so make a large bowl full and freeze in individual portions for a quick nutritious lunch

Savoury Stuffed Butternut Squash 

• 1 medium sized butternut squash, cut in half length ways, with the seeds removed
• 25g butter
• 1 medium sized onion, chopped
• 2 sticks celery, roughly chopped
• salt and a pinch of paprika pepper to taste
• pinch oregano
• 100g cooked chicken or turkey meat, roughly chopped
• 50g cheese, grated
• 2 tblspn breadcrumbs or crushed cornflakes

1. Wash the two halves of the butternut squash and place in a large shallow microwave proof dish or plate, (a shallow pyrex type dish works perfectly) cover with cling wrap or a well fitting lid and cook on HIGH power for 10 - 13 minutes - according to the size of the squash, until the flesh feels tender when pierced all over with a knife. Set aside.
2. While the squash is cooking, chop the onion, celery, roughly dice the cooked meat and grate the cheese.
3. While the squash is cooling, put the onion, celery and butter into an ovenproof dish, cover with cling wrap or a well fitting lid and cook on HIGH power for 4 minutes, giving the dish a stir or shake half way through the cooking time until the onion is cooked, then stir in the seasonings to taste and the cooked meat. Gently scoop out the pulp from the squash, keeping the shells in tact, stir the roughly chopped pulp into the onion mixture.
4. Fill the squash shells with this mixture, cover the top of each with the grated cheese and breadcrumbs or crushed cornflakes.
5. Return the two halves of the squash to the microwave oven and heat through, uncovered on HIGH power for 3 minutes, then place under a hot grill to brown the top - just before serving.