Sweet Beef Pie

One of my favourite winter warmers is cottage pie and with our weather turning less than Spring like this week I fancied recreating this classic dish, whilst keeping it NSNG friendly, of course.

The result was a totally delicious, sweet version of a homemade cottage pie, with no added nasties.

INGREDIENTS (serves 4)

MEAT LAYER:

- 500g good quality minced beef (I used Laverstock Park Farm) 

- 500ml vegetable stock with no sugar or grain (I used Sainsbury's as pictured below)

- 1 carrot

- 1 white onion

- 1 stick of celery

- Salt & pepper

TOPPING:

- 4 medium sweet potatoes

- 30ml organic single cream

- Salt & pepper

- 1 ball buffalo mozzarella (also Laverstock Park Farm)

I used a slow cooker to prepare my beef mix but a large saucepan on the hob would suffice for a speedier alternative.

Add mince and stock to the crock pot. Finely dice the onion, carrot & celery (or use a food processor if you're a cheat, like me!) and season with salt & pepper. 

Leave on a low heat for around 4 hours. 

Peel, chop and slowly simmer the sweet potatoes for 25-30 minutes or until nicely soft. 

Drain and leave to dry in a colander for 10 minutes to let any excess water evaporate. 

In the saucepan, mash the potatoes with the cream and seasoning.

Tip the mince mixture through a sieve to drain off the excess juice. Do this into a saucepan or bowl so that the 'juice' is saved. 

Layer the mince, topped with the potato in a pyrex dish and top with torn mozzarella. 

Once ready to heat, pop in the oven for 30 minutes at 180' (fan) or until the pie is piping hot and the cheese is bubbling. 

Whilst in the oven, I heated the leftover meat juices in a saucepan on a fairly high heat so that it reduced by about a third. It made for a fairly 'light' gravy but it was full of flavour and just right for pouring over the cooked pie. 

I served this with peas. 

I even had a delicious breakfast the next morning with some of the leftovers!