Shepherds pie is an old tradition in many households and this is one I made with extra veggies for a family tea. As always, ensure you use great quality, very lean mince meat. (You can also make this with Turkey mince!) Red meat does contain iron and zinc which are complimented by the Vitamin C and fibre content on the potato and sweet potato mixed topping. The onions, garlic and tomatoes will help lower blood cholesterol making this dish a lovely, nutritious and filling meal.

Below is the list of ingredients that I used although you may wish to swap and change the vegetables depending on what you have in your fridge today

Ingredients.

Serves 4-5

600g/1lb 5oz White potatoes, peeled and diced (I prefer Rooster potatoes – most flavour!)

600g/1lb 5oz Sweet potatoes, peeled and diced

400g/14oz extra lean minced beef

1 leek

1 red pepper

1 green pepper

1 orange pepper

1 carrot

1 large onion

2 cloves of garlic

slurp of Worcester sauce

2 teaspoons mixed herbs (or fresh if you have!)

450g tin chopped tomatoes

2 tablespoons tomato puree

Pink peppercorns crushed in a pestle and mortar

1 knorr chicken stock pot (or chicken/vegetable stock of your choice – amount by preference when mashing your potatoes)

Method.

• Pre-heat oven to 200ºc/gas mark 6 if you are going to eat straight after cooking. Otherwise, put the whole pie together and pop in the fridge until you are ready to do the final cook and serve. In this case you will need to cook for an extra 20 minutes.
• Peel and cube the rooster and sweet potatoes and boil for 15-20 minutes until soft through but not mushy
• While the potatoes are boiling, clean and prepare all the vegetables including the onion and garlic and use a food processor to whizz everything up really fine. This will provide your nutrients and thickener for your meat sauce.
• Next add a little olive oil to a non-stick pan and over a medium heat cook the vegetable mixture for about 15 minutes stirring regularly.
• Meanwhile, brown the minced beef (or turkey) in a separate frying pan and drain off any fat!
• Now add the meat to the vegetable pan and also add the tinned tomatoes, tomato puree, dried herbs and Worcester sauce and half of the crushed pink peppercorns. (If you don’t have these, black peppercorns will do)
• Let this meat and vegetable mixture bubble over a low heat for 10 minutes while you prepare your mash.
• So, drain the cooked Rooster and sweet potatoes and mash together with a little chicken stock (instead of butter or cream), and the remaining crushed pink peppercorns.
• In a large , shallow ovenproof dish, place the meat and vegetable mixture on the bottom and the mashed potato on top.
• Cook in the pre-heated oven for 20 minutes until golden brown on top.

Thank you to Richwood Jones for the use of their amazing kitchen.