One pot meals are brilliant, you throw the ingredients in a pot, give it a stir and let the flavours develop and end up with a tasty meal at the end.  That is why I love casseroles, stews and tagines.  There is of course the added bonus of less washing up!

Lately I seem to be eating less meat and using more vegetables and pulses in my meals instead.  If I do buy meat I make sure that it is organic and free range; some animals are pumped full of drugs and hormones that it is a scary thought that we could be consuming those drugs too.  While it may cost more to buy free range and organic meat at the end of the day you know that you are eating quality produce.

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There’s something very homely and comforting about cottage pie, it’s certainly perfect to have on these cold evenings; a real Winter warmer.

I try to sneak in extra vegetables in my pie and also I like to switch the topping each time I make it.  This recipe uses sweet potatoes and carrots but I’ve used sweet potatoes and parsnips, celeriac and the classic white potato.  Use what you have at hand, you can also switch up the veggies used.  Make it your own.

This recipe serves 2 but in the past I’ve made the mince mixture and portioned it in to individual sizes and frozen it so it’s easy to defrost and you just need to make the topping and pop it in the oven.

Serves 2

Ingredients

-250g organic minced beef

-1/2 Tbsp. rapeseed or olive oil

-1 small red onion, diced

-1 garlic clove, crushed

-handful of mushrooms, cleaned and quartered

-1 400g tin of chopped tomatoes

-1 Tbsp. tomato puree mixed with 1/2 cup of water

-1 Tbsp. gluten free Worcestershire sauce

-1 bay leaf

-1/2 cup frozen peas

-salt and pepper to taste

Topping

-2 medium sweet potato, peeled and roughly chopped

-1 large carrot, peeled and roughly chopped

How To Make

In a large sauté pan, heat the oil over a medium heat and add the onion.  Cook for a few minutes then add the garlic, continue cooking until the onion is soft and translucent.

Turn the heat up high and add the minced beef.  Cook quickly over a high heat until browned.  Drain off an excess fat.

Turn the heat down to medium and add the mushrooms.  Cook for 2-3 minutes until the mushrooms take on some colour.

Add the tomatoes, tomato puree and water, Worcestershire sauce, bay leaf and peas.

Give everything a good mix, bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer.

Cook, uncovered for 30-40 minutes until sauce thickens.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

To make the topping, add the chopped potato and carrot to a pan of boiling salted water and cook for 10-15 minutes until the vegetables are fork tender.

Drain and mash.

Pre-heat oven to 190C/375F

It is best to let your mince mixture cool slightly before adding your topping else your topping may sink!

Pour the mince mixture in to a ovenproof casserole.

Spoon on your topping.  Make ridges in your topping using a fork as the pointy ridges will get lovely and crispy (this is of course optional!)

Cook your pie for 35-40minutes until the edges are brown and it is piping hot.

Enjoy 🙂

This recipe was a happy accident.  I needed to use up some root veg that I had and wanted to do something different instead of roasting and the result was this dish.  When I first made it, I put in about 500ml of stock but it was too watery for my liking, I prefer a thicker stew so lessened the amount of liquid the next time I made it and preferred it.

When I first started cooking if a dish didn’t work the first time, that it was it, I thought I was a failure, shouldn’t venture into the kitchen, I should stick to what I know ie spaghetti Bolognese.  Now, however, if a dish doesn’t work first time, I think about what I could to make it better, what ingredients to switch about, do timings or measurements need to be different, it’s all a learning experience.

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I had been craving a nut roast for ages.  I have no idea why as I can’t recall ever eating one.  After trawling my cookbooks and the internet, I found this recipe.  In my typical style, I have Beccy-fied it and created my own loaf.

This loaf is delicious hot or cold and handy for slicing up and freezing into portions.  It’s a great way to use up vegetables and a sneaky way of getting vegetable dodgers to have different types if vegetables in a meal!

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