Mince & Potato Pie

This is one of the first recipes I'm sharing with you from the healthy diet.

It's from the previously mentioned Hairy Bikers Diet Book (except in their words it's Mince and Vegetable Pie with Tumbled Spuds - but we have changed it a little)

This is a really tasty meal, especially if you just feel like something hearty and warming. Serious, if you eat this, you'll never believe it's a diet recipe!

Now we all knwo I'm not very good at taking photos. I took a few during the cooking process (which I will include), but totally failed when it came to the end of took no photo of the finished dish. I will endeavour to change this and add photos next time I make it!

Serves 4

Ingredients

500 g Extra Lean Beef Mince (5% fat), raw *
1 medium Onion, Chopped
2 medium Leek, trimmed and sliced
2 medium Carrots, raw, Peeled and Diced
2 tablespoons (level) Plain White Flour
2 tablespoons (level) Tomato Purèe
1 cube(s) Beef Stock Cube, Make up 500ml of stock **
1 1/2 teaspoons Dried Mixed Herbs
1 tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce ***
2 teaspoons Black Pepper, Freshly ground
2 teaspoons Salt, Flaked Sea Salt
600 g Potato, Boiled ***
1 tablespoons Butter

*If you can't get mince this lean then brown the meat on it's own first and tip away the fat after
** I use the stock pots/melts rather than the cubes
*** I don't have this, so I usually pop in some Dijon Mustard instead
**** I sometimes use a combination of sweet and regular potatoes, or just sweet on their own

Method

• Place a large non stick saucepan or flameproof casserole dish over a medium heat and cook the mince with the onion, leeks and carrots for 5 minutes until lightly coloured. I usually swap the leeks for some extra onions if I don't have them
• Break up the meat with a couple of wooden spoons as it cooks

• Stir in the flour and cook for a few seconds, stirring.
• Add the tomato puree, beef stock, herbs and worcestershire sauce (or mustard), then season with a good pinch of slat and plenty of freshly ground pepper.

I added some cabbage that we'd bought at our local market to the sauce.

• Bring the mixture to a simmer and cook without covering for 20 minutes stirring occasionally.
• Meanwhile preheat the oven to 220/Fan 200/Gas 7.
• Half fill a large saucepan with water and bring it to the boil.
• Peel the potatoes and cut them into rough 2cm chunks.

• Add the potatoes to the boiling water and bring it back to the boil and cook for 5 minutes.
• Remove the pan form the heat and drain the potatoes in a colander.Tip them back into the saucepan, add the butter and lots of seasoning,then bash or slightly mash the potatoes.
• Pour the beef mixture into a 1.8 litre,shallow ovenproof dish.
• Tumble the potatoes on top and season with lots of ground black pepper.
• Bake for 25-30 minutes until the topping is golden and the filling is bubbling.

Sometimes to save having the oven on for a long time I'll just make the sauce and cook the potatoes for a little longer, serving them together.

I seriously recommend the recipe and the cookbook, both really great!