So this recipe came about as my other half was trying to lose weight and he was finding a lot of success following the Slimming World diet and I tried to find meals that were easy to make or could be easily frozen and take out as and when needed to keep him on track with the diet. This meal on the Slimming World diet is syn free!
Turkey is not the most exciting of meat. I'm not a massive fan of it but turkey can be so easily flavoured in dishes and can be a very lean meat if you buy the right cuts.
I make this meal most weeks and I batch cook it so I can freeze portions to take out when I need them; for example, this is an ideal meal for after teaching a class and when I'm feeling tired and wanting something nutritious, quick to make and to not resort to a meal that isn't slimming friendly for my other half.
You can also double this recipe to make more dinners for the freezer or mix and match vegetables you like to personalise it to you. You can also substitute the Frylight for oil or butter and add a glass of red wine in place of the water for a richer taste but this will increase the syn count in the meal.
Let me know what you think!
Difficulty: Medium
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 45 minutes - 1 hour
Makes: 3 generous sized portions that feed 2 adults per portion.
Ingredients:
1 500g pack of extra lean turkey mince
1 onion, diced into very small pieces
2 medium sized carrots, diced into very small pieces
1 stick of celery, diced into very small pieces
1 container of white or button mushrooms, diced
2 courgettes, diced
2 garlic cloves (minced) or one teaspoon of garlic granules/powder
1 400ml jar or carton of passata, plus 200ml of water.
Frylight spray
1 1/2 teaspoons of dried basil/oregano/mixed herbs or chopped fresh basil/oregano
1 stock cube of your choosing (I often go for beef)
Salt and pepper
Optional: Cheese to finish
Recipe:
1. Dice up your carrot, onion and celery into small pieces. Put a few squirts, I usually use about 5 or 6, of FryLight into a frying pan and fry the carrots, onion and celery on a medium heat for 3 minutes to soften.
2. Add the turkey mince to the pan with the vegetables along with the herbs. Keep chopping the turkey mince up in the pan with your spatula to break it up into little pieces and keep moving it around until your can see the mince has turned white.
3. Add the garlic to the pan along with the courgette and mushrooms. Fry for about 5 minutes to allow garlic time to become aromatic and the other vegetables to colour slightly.
4. Add the passata to the pan. Fill your carton/jar half way with water and add this to the pan along with your stock cube. Add salt and pepper to taste, then bring the pan to the boil and then allow to simmer on a low heat for at least half an hour or until most of the liquid has evaporated and has turned into a thicker sauce.
5. Allow to stand to cool and then divide into portions to put into the freezer.
Once frozen, to prepare for a dinner, take a container out of the freezer and put in the microwave on high heat for 4 minutes. Stir after 4 minutes and then microwave for a further 4 minutes. This timing works perfectly as it'll take a similar amount of time to reheat as it does to cook your pasta so this can be on the table in about 10-15 minutes!
Enjoy! XxXxX
Sprinkle the top with cheese if you fancy and enjoy!