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was called ‘Meat Loaf Me in St Louis’ on the menu and sounded hilarious ordered in a Belfast accent. Serve it here with mashed potatoes and green beans and the Tomato Ketchup here . Puns optional.
    SERVES 4–6
    350g pork mince, chilled
    150g breadcrumbs
    1 tablespoon fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried
    1 teaspoon mustard powder
    1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
    2 medium onions, finely chopped
    2 stalks of celery, finely chopped
    75g chorizo, finely chopped
    1 egg, beaten
    3 tablespoons milk
    touch of cornflour (optional)
    This is so very easy to make. Add the mince, breadcrumbs and the thyme, mustard powder and Worcestershire sauce to the chopped vegetables and chorizo and mix well with your hands. Break the mince up and then add the beaten egg. Keep mixing with your hands, adding the milk a tablespoon at a time until it is smooth.
    Pack the meatloaf mix into a lightly oiled loaf tin and cover the top of the mixture with foil to prevent any moisture getting into it. I used two of those foil takeaway containers, one inside the other. They don’t have the deep lip of most loaf tins, so fit better in the crock.
    Set it into the slow-cooker crock and then pour boiling water halfway up the side of the loaf tin. Cook the meatloaf on high for 5–6 hours or 7–8 hours on low.
    Carefully lift out the meatloaf in its tin when you are ready. There will be quite a lot of gravy in the tin, which you don’t want to spill. Pour it off and thicken with a touch of cornflour mixed with cold water if you prefer.
    Tip the meatloaf out of its tin and serve in slices. It’s best warm rather than piping hot. I am inordinately fond of it cold in a sandwich with lots of ketchup.

SAUSAGE RAGU
    Despite sounding like a student kitchen special, this dish is utterly delicious and a really good way to make those premium packets of sausages go further among more people. Inspired by traditional Italian dishes, I strip the skins off the high-meat-content sausages and crumble them into a rich tomatoey sauce, which slow cooks down to become something simply stunning. It works well on pasta or makes the Lasagne here even more amazing. This is a brilliant way to perk up your sausages…
    SERVES 4 WITH LEFTOVERS FOR A SNEAKY BAKED POTATO LUNCH
    450g premium sausages or sausage meat
    2 teaspoons fennel seeds
    4 cloves of garlic, chopped
    1 teaspoon sugar
    1 × 400g tin chopped tomatoes
    100ml red wine (optional)
    2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
    4 tablespoons tomato purée
    chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, to serve
    salt and pepper
    I like to use an Italian-style sausage for this or a rich, garlicky Toulouse-style one, which suit the style of the dish much better than a British banger. These Continental sausages are often on offer in the supermarkets and have a coarser ground meat that works well here.
    If you are using sausages, put a nick in each skin and rip it back, pushing the meat out of the casing. Put the sausages into a hot frying pan on the hob and seal on each side on a medium heat for 2–3 minutes in total. If you are using sausage meat, simply put handfuls of it into the pan and do the same.
    Put the sealed sausage meat into the slow-cooker crock and then, using the same pan, lightly toast the fennel seeds in the remaining fat from the sausages. After about 60–90 seconds they will smell very aromatic. Remove from the heat immediately and add to the slow-cooker crock.
    Add the chopped garlic, salt and pepper and the sugar. Pour the tomatoes, red wine and 1 tablespoon of the vinegar over it all and add the tomato purée. If it all looks too thick, add 200ml water.
    Put the lid on the slow cooker and cook the ragu on low for 10–12 hours. The longer the better for this one. You want the tomatoes to reduce down and become almost jammy and thick.
    When you are ready to serve, add the remaining tablespoon of balsamic vinegar and stir through. Scatter with chopped parsley if you are using over pasta or a baked potato.

LEMON AND OLIVE MEATBALLS
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