Food Processor

How to use this attachment

Food Processor attachment supplied with knife blade and 3 stainless steel slicing and shredding discs. 3 optional discs available to rasp, chip and coarsely shred.

Knife Blade

Chopping
The Knife Blade will chop both hard and soft foods. For best results, make sure the ingredients are all the same size. Use the Pulse button to roughly chop meat, fish, fruit, vegetables and nuts. For fine or ground nuts, process continuously on speed 2-3 until you have the texture you need. The Knife Blade will also chop onions, mushrooms, celery or tomatoes, but take care not to over-process.

For chillies or garlic, drop into the feed tube with the Kitchen Machine running. To make garlic butter, place the garlic and parsley (dry off any liquid first) in the processing bowl and chop, then add cubes of butter. Process to mix.

The Knife Blade will also crumb bread: use bread cut into cubes or torn into pieces. Biscuits such as amaretti or digestives can be processed to produce a crumb for desserts and tart cases.

Puréeing
Fruit coulis, purées and sauces can be processed in seconds with the Knife Blade. Soft fruits such as summer berries, kiwi, mangoes and peaches can be processed raw. Stone large fruits, peel if necessary and cut into smaller even-sized pieces first. Poach hard fruits like apples, apricots, plums, pears and rhubarb in a little water and sugar until tender before puréeing.

The Knife Blade is ideal for making smooth soups. Drain the ingredients and add to the processing bowl, then add a little of the liquid and process to the desired consistency. Add the purée to the remaining liquid in the pan and combine.

Mixing
The Knife Blade will easily mix ingredients for a marinade, salad dressing or mayonnaise. Use it to blend mixtures of soft cheese or yoghurt with vegetables, spices and herbs for dips or to make batter for crêpes or fritters.

The Knife Blade can also be used to make smaller quantities of shortcrust pastry or crumble topping. Put the flour and fat, straight from the fridge, into the bowl. Cut the fat into cubes first. Process for a few seconds until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. If you’re making shortcrust pastry, add the water through the feed tube with the Kitchen Machine running.

Thick slicing/coarse shredding plate

This is a reversible plate with a thick slicing blade on one side and coarse shredding on the other. Cut any large foods to fit the feed tube first, then for long thin vegetables like leeks, courgettes and carrots, load the tube vertically to produce neat slices.

If you’re only slicing one item use the small feed tube, loading the carrot, leek, courgette or cucumber vertically. 

Thin slicing/fine shredding plate

This dual purpose plate also slices and shreds but more thinly and finely.

The thin slicer is perfect for thin slices of celery, cucumber, mushrooms or radishes to used in salads. Use the small feed tube for celery and radishes, and make sure mushrooms are placed horizontally, one on top of the other, to fill the feed tube.

The fine shredding side is ideal for processing hard cheese for sauces, salads and gratin toppings. It will also finely grate crisp apples – perfect for strudel or fillings for individual pies and pastries.

Use the fine shredding cutters for carrots, courgettes or celeriac to incorporate in salads, fillings for pies and pastries or making stuffing or nut and meat loaves.

Thin chipper plate

For slim French fries or fine strips of vegetables for stir-fries and salads, use this thin, Julienne-style cutter. It is suitable for beetroot, carrots, celeriac, courgettes, cucumber, peppers, potatoes and turnips.

For long thin vegetables such as carrots, courgettes and cucumber cut into 6.5cm (2½ inch) lengths and load horizontally, one on top of the other, in the feed tube.

Hints and tips

1. When using the cutting plates, fill the feed tube before switching on the Food Processing Attachment.

2. Use the pusher to push ingredients down the feed tube. Use the small feed tube for single or small items, to prevent them slipping sideways.

3. Do not use the Food Processing Attachment for grinding coffee beans or ice – the Multi-Mill attachment will handle these.

4. Liquids may leak out of the processing bowl and could cause damage. When puréeing soups, leave to cool, then drain the ingredients and add them to the food processing bowl. Blend and then return them to the liquid and mix together before reheating as necessary.

5. Use the Pulse setting for greater control over the final texture of the food you are processing – you can roughly chop and mix ingredients this way to avoid over-blending them.

6. Start on a low speed to avoid over-processing, as the Food Processing Attachment is very quick. Use low speeds for slicing, shredding and chipping and higher speeds for puréeing and blending.

Bearnaise Sauce

Classic Fish Soup

Financier