Creating great family meals that everyone will love

With our hectic schedules, it is quite difficult to find the time to cook a healthy hearty dinner every day of the week.

Usually, we’re short on time when it comes to making dinner, so you’re looking for something that’s not going to be hours in the making. And you also want things that everyone will eat, and if they were a one pot wonder, even better. What you’re looking for with family meals, is something delicious and full of goodness for your family.

Because searching for new ideas is time-consuming we’ve gathered four of our favourite recipes that work for family meals, and don’t take forever to make. And better still, we’re using Knorr Zero Salt Stock Cubes that are packed with natural, nutritious and substantially sourced ingredients including specially selected vegetables, herbs and spices.

When we asked MummyPages mums to test Knorr Zero Salt Stock Cubes – they all agreed that they were a great addition to any kitchen cupboard:

“I’d highly recommend anyone with a family to use these Zero Salt stock cubes   instead of the regular ones. You're getting great flavour in your dish and a reduction in salt. I’ve already purchased them again”

 “I’m very conscious of added salt in our diet. I also really like that we can include these cubes in the recipes for all ages, there’s no change of creating different dishes in our house, we all eat from the one pot as it were”

Our four recommended family recipes using Knorr Zero Salt Stock Cubes are:

Leek and Mushroom Puff Pastry Pie

This recipe is created by the No.1 baby and children's food expert, Annabel Karmel

You can get the children involved by making pastry shapes for decoration.

Ingredients

• 1 Knorr Zero Salt Vegetable Stock Cubes with 300 ml of water
• 1 ready rolled light puff pastry
• 1 kg mushrooms thickly sliced
• 4 large leeks thickly sliced
• 150 ml milk
• 100 g mature cheddar grated
• 60 g plain flour
• 60 g butter
• 50 g Parmesan grated
• 1 egg beaten
• 2 tbsp thyme
• 2 tbsp sunflower oil

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 210 Fan.
2. Melt the butter in a large saucepan, add the leeks and fry for 8 minutes until soft. Add the flour and stir. Then, add the Knorr Zero Salt Veggie Stock Cube and milk. Stir until you have a thick white sauce then add the cheeses.
3. In a frying pan, heat the oil and add half of the mushrooms. Fry until brown and all the liquid has evaporated. Repeat with the remaining mushrooms. Once all the mushrooms have cooked, add them to the sauce and stir well.
4. Roll the pastry sheet to fit the surface of a 8/9" pie dish. Add the filling. Then slice a thin strip of pastry and brush with egg. Also brush the lip of the dish and stick on the pastry strips. Add the pastry sheet on top and crimp the edges to close and make a pretty pattern.
5. Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown and crispy.

Minestrone Soup

This recipe is created by the No.1 baby and children's food expert, Annabel Karmel

This soup is packed full with veggies for the whole family to enjoy!

Ingredients

• 2 Knorr Zero Salt Vegetable Stock Cubes
• 1 tinned chopped tomatoes
• 50 g pasta shapes
• 1 L of water
• 2 carrots peeled and finely diced
• 2 celery sticks diced
• 2 leeks chopped
• 2 small red onions finely diced
• 60 g green beans sliced
• 50 g button mushrooms sliced
• 2 cloves garlic crushed
• 1 tbsp tomato puree
• 1 tbsp plain flour
• 2 tbsp olive oil

Method

1. Heat the oil in a deep saucepan. Add the leeks, carrots, celery and onions, fry for 2 minutes. Add the garlic, puree and flour then stir for 30 seconds. Add the Knorr Zero Salt Veggie Stock Cube, water and tinned tomatoes then simmer for 15 minutes.
2. Cook the pasta in boiling water with the green beans and cook for 3-4 minutes. The drain.
3. Add the cooked green beans, pasta and mushrooms to the soup and simmer for a further 3-4 minutes then serve.

Sweet Potato Gnocchi

This recipe is created by the No.1 baby and children's food expert, Annabel Karmel

This meal is bound to keep everyone in the family happy!

Ingredients

To Make the Gnocchi

• 600 g sweet potatoes
• 225 g plain flour

To Make the Sauce

• 1 Knorr Zero Salt Vegetable Stock Cubes with 250 ml of water 250 g tender stem broccoli 100 g tomatoes quartered
• 1 onion chopped
• 1 clove garlic crushed
• 50 g Parmesan cheese grated 2 tbsp creme fraiche
• 2 tsps sage chopped
• 1 tbsp olive oil

Method

1. For the gnocchi, prick the sweet potato with a fork. Cook in the microwave for 10 minutes until soft. Leave to cool. Scoop out the flesh & mash.
2. Put the flour on a worksurface. Make a well in the centre. Add the potato & mix well. Knead into a firm dough. Divide into 8 parts, then roll out each piece to a roll about 1.5 cm thick. Then slice into 1.5cm pieces and press each piece down with a fork.
3. Put the gnocchi and broccoli into a pan of boiling water for 3-4 minutes until cooked (the gnocchi should floats) then drain.
4. For the sauce, heat the oil in a frying pan. Add the onion and garlic then fry for 3-4 minutes. Add the Knorr Zero Salt Veggie Stock and bring to a boil. Add the crème fraiche, cheese, sage and tomatoes and stir. Finally, add the gnocchi and broccoli and mix well.

Vegetable Risotto And Arancini Balls

This recipe is created by the No.1 baby and children's food expert, Annabel Karmel

Ingredients

• 2 Knorr Zero Salt Vegetable Stock Cubes with 900 ml of water
• 200 g butternut squash peeled and sliced
• 70 g peas
• 50 g Parmesan cheese grated 1 red pepper diced
• 2 cloves garlic crushed
• 1 large onion chopped
• 2 tbsp basil chopped
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 250 g risotto rice

Method

1. To make the risotto, heat the oil in a shallow saucepan. Add the onion, pepper, and squash. Fry for a few minutes then add the garlic and rice and stir.
2. Add the Knorr Zero Salt Veggie Stock. Cover with a lid and simmer for 18-20 minutes until all the stock has been absorbed. Add the peas and cheese and simmer for 2 minutes.
3. For the Arancini Balls, cool the mixture and shape into 12 balls. Dip into egg and roll in the breadcrumbs. Heat a little sunflower oil in a frying pan. Add the balls and fry for 4-5 minutes until golden brown and heated through. Add the basil just before serving.

 

With these recipes and Knorr Zero Stock cubes – you can create fantastic family meals that taste great and contain no additional salt.

 

 

Brought to you by

With Knorr Zero salt, you decide if, and how much salt to add to your meals without compromising on flavour. Available from retailers nationwide in free range Chicken, Vegetable and Beef sourced from responsible farms, they’re packed with a delicious blend of sustainably farmed vegetables, herbs and spices