Food Chain Shepherd's Pie

For five people (quantities for ten are given below)

2 - 4 tbsp vegetable oil
1 medium-sized onion, peeled and chopped
600g minced lamb
5 large button mushrooms, sliced
650g potatoes
2 tbsp tomato purée
2 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
1 tsp chopped fresh herbs such as sage, thyme or oregano
or ¾ tsp of the dried herb
salt and pepper
50-75g butter
about 50ml milk
5 medium-sized tomatoes, halved
3 medium-sized eggs, hard-boiled, cooled and halved lengthways
300g green beans, to serve

Method

1. Heat the oven to 190C/375F/ gas 5.
2. Heat the oil in a heavy pan over medium-low heat, add the onions and cook until golden.
3. Raise the heat slightly, add the meat and cook until lightly browned. Add the mushrooms and cook for 15 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, peel and boil the potatoes until tender, drain, cover and keep them warm.
5. Add the tomato purée, garlic herbs, salt and pepper, and enough water to form a sauce, stir well and cook for a further 10 minutes.
6. Prepare the topping for the pie by mashing the warm potatoes with the butter and enough milk to make a spreading consistency. Season with salt and pepper.
7. Place the meat mixture in an oven dish (or dishes), top with the sliced eggs and tomatoes and cover with the mashed potato.
8. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the top is golden brown.
9. About 5 minutes before the Shepherd’s Pie is ready, steam the green beans, then serve them with the pie.

Each serving provides:
Kcal: 506
Protein: 35.6g
Fat: 30.1g (of which saturated fat: 13.8g )
Carbohydrate: 22.9g (of which sugars: 3.9g)
Fibre: 2.8g

Nutrition Points:

a) This recipe is high in protein and vitamin B12.
b) This recipe contains a medium amount of iron.

Serving Suggestions:

a) The most nutritious way to cook the green beans (and most other vegetables) is to stream them until they are just tender. Then they keep most of their vitamins!
b) Instead of, or as well as, green beans, serve Shepherd’s Pie with another vegetable such as carrots, broccoli or Brussels sprouts.
c) Instead of lamb, substitute 600g tofu, lightly browned and well broken up.
d) Vary the flavour of the Shepherd’s Pie by topping the mixture with ingredients such as stoned olives, fried aubergine slices or sliced, canned artichoke hearts, etc. - instead of the hard-boiled eggs - before spreading over the mashed potatoes and baking.

For ten people

4 - 8 tbsp vegetable oil
2 medium-sized onions, peeled and chopped
1.2kg minced lamb
10 large button mushrooms, sliced
1.3kg potatoes
4 tbsp tomato purée
4 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
2 tsp chopped fresh herbs such as sage, thyme or oregano
or 1½ tsp of the dried herb
salt and pepper
100-150g butter
about 100ml milk
10 medium-sized tomatoes, halved
6 medium-sized eggs, hard-boiled, cooled and halved lengthways
600g green beans, to serve

Feedback

If you cook this dish please complete this recipe feed back form and return it to the Food Chain. It will help us greatly in deciding the final line up of recipes for the cook book and to ensure that all recipes are correct and work! Don’t forget to let the office know you are cooking this dish as they will send along a photographer – you and your dish may appear in the cook book.

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