Earthy Autumn Shepherd’s Pie…with heaps of veggies.

Autumn has arrived and the mornings and evenings have a certain chill to them.  Although the days are still quite warm, we have started to crave salads and barbeques less and warming, comfort food more.

This Shepherd’s pie is the perfect slow cooked family meal for a rainy, chilly day.  If you are happy to spend an afternoon steaming up your kitchen and ready to grab a warming full bodied red over a glass of chilled refreshing white…this is perfect for you.  Full of wholesome vegetables packed with vitamins and minerals, lean red meat for protein and energy, lentils for fibre and parmesan for, well okay…because it tastes great!  The best thing is it makes enough for at least two meals so get busy and freeze it or put some aside for later.

Packed full of healthy ingredients...

This recipe is so versatile…you can swap and change the ingredients as you like but here is how I made it and it was a real winner…clean plates all round!  I made one for four people and a baby and had enough leftover to make three more ramekin sized, individual pies for the freezer and enough pie filling to make about six pastry pies in the pie maker!

Hot, steamy, tasty, cheesy...

Earthy Autumn Shepherd’s Pie

For the pie…

500g good quality lean beef mince

1 onion chopped (leave out if following a low fodmap diet)

1 clove garlic chopped (leave out if following a low fodmap diet)

Any herbs you have on hand…I like to use earthy ones like rosemary, thyme, oregano, parsley)

2 carrots, diced or grated

1 zucchini diced or grated

3-4 silverbeet or chard leaves chopped

handful of baby spinach

handful of peas

1/2  small sweet potato, diced or grated

1 can crushed tomatoes

1 tbsp tomato paste (leave out if on a low fodmap diet)

1 can lentils, rinsed

1 tbsp flour

For the topping

4-5 potatoes for mashing

1/2 sweet potato

mozzarella, tasty or parmesan cheese for topping

What to do…

1.  If you are an orderly person, chop, grate and dice all your veggies and things first…if you prefer to work under pressure, just do it as you go.

2.  Begin by browning the mince in a large frying pan, then tipping it into a colander for the fat to drain off a bit.

3.  Return the pan to the stove and wipe out with paper towel.  Add some olive oil, then add the onion and garlic and cook for a few minutes.  Then add your herbs and veggies and cook for about ten minutes, stirring occasionally.

4.  Once the veggies have softened, return the mince to the pan and stir to combine.  Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, lentils and then sprinkle over the flour.  Stir well, then add in about one tomato can of water.

5.  Simmer over low heat for about an hour so the mixture is nice and thick, not too runny.  Taste at some point and add some salt and pepper if you like.

Okay, now is a good time to have a quick coffee before you move on to the potato…or alternatively, open your bottle of wine and commence taste testing…

6.  Peel and chop potatoes and sweet potato and put them in a large pot of water to boil.  When they are soft (takes roughly 20 minutes) drain really well and then mash well…you can add a bit of butter if you like.

7.  Time to assemble…turn the pie mixture off and let it cool for a few minutes before you spoon out the desired amount into a casserole dish – use the whole lot for a big pie (6-8 people) or just make a smaller one so you can use the leftovers for something else.

8.  Spoon over the potato mash and top with a good sprinkling of your choice of grated cheese and loosely cover with foil, or casserole dish lid.

Put in the freezer as is, or the fridge if you are not ready to cook…but if you are, preheat the oven to 170 degrees celcius.

9.  Place in the oven and cook for 45 minutes with the lid on and then 10 minutes with the foil off.  If you want the cheesy topping to be browner and crisper, turn the oven to the grill function for a few minutes at the end.

So delicious but VERY hot when straight out of the oven.

It seems like a lot of ingredients and a lot of cooking but you could probably manage to whip this up with whatever veggies you have leftover in the bottom of the fridge on a Sunday afternoon.  A great slow cooked, nutritious meal that the whole family can enjoy.

Happy Eating!

mamacino x

Celebration or Consolation?

My middle child started school this week.  It’s certainly been quiet around here.  Yep, just me and the baby…and he can’t talk yet so he doesn’t really count.

I must say, I’ve had mixed emotions.  I mean, of course I have been looking forward to it but there were times over the holidays, which were such great fun, that I even considered what it might be like to home school…okay, only for for about five seconds, but anyway…you kind of get used to having your kids around and I guess it’s natural to miss them once they move on to bigger and better things.  Maybe that’s it…the moving on.  Coming to the realisation that your children have begun a new chapter of their lives…one that sees you in less of a starring role perhaps.  They are growing up and that is bound to cause a bit of, what? Grief?  Sadness?  Longing for the past?

What are you….CRAZY?

My advice is to remember the old times with fondness and an appropriate degree of repressed memory and make yourself a big fat muffin as a reward for all the hard work you’ve put in during the pre-school years.  That’s what I did!  Cheered me up completely.  There are so many wonderful things to look forward to in the future, a bright, exciting and positive school experience for you kids included.  If that doesn’t work, make an appointment to get your legs waxed and see how enjoyable it can actually be without a thousand questions from your savvy kinda-kid!

Real Muffins

Okay, muffins are a sometimes food, I get it.  But these ones are the bomb.  This is Jude Blereau’s recipe and if you are interested in cooking with whole foods, you should take a look at her website www.wholefoodcooking.com.au and blog for some fantastic ideas and recipes.

Need consoling...these will do the job nicely.

Ingredients note: The better the ingredients you use, the better your muffins will taste.  If you can, use organic, whole ingredients and cut out the white stuff.  Your body and your taste buds will thank you!

Topping:

1/2 cup chopped nuts (I used almonds but macadamias, hazelnuts, brazil nuts…whatever you have on hand).

2 tbsp Rapadura or raw sugar

2 tbs dessicated coconut

Dry Ingredients:

1 cup plain flour (or spelt flour)

1 cup wholemeal flour (or wholemeal spelt flour)

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 cup Rapadura or raw sugar

Wet Ingredients:

1 egg

1 tsp natural vanilla extract

80gm butter, melted and cooled

1/2 cup whole milk

1/2 cup natural yogurt

400 gm fruit of your choice (I used peaches and raspberries…delish!)

What to do now:

Pre-heat your oven to 180 degrees, line or grease your muffin tin, chop your fruit and prepare your topping.

Put the dry ingredients, including the fruit (except berries, put those in at the end) in a bowl and give a good whisk to get rid of any lumps and bumps (if only it was that easy!)

Put the dry ingredients into a jug and give them a good whisk too.

Add the wet to the dry and mix gently until just combined.  Spoon in to your muffin tray and top generously with the topping.

Bake for about 30-40 minutes or until golden and cooked through when tested with a skewer or a dry piece of spaghetti.

Cool in the tin for about 10 minutes, then pop them on a cooling rack to cool just long enough to demolish one without burning your tongue!

Best enjoyed with a cup of tea while relaxing and reading Sarah Napthali’s Buddhism for Mothers of School Children (but that’s a whole other post entirely!).

Enjoy!