Individual Healthy Cottage Pies

This is a delicious meal that the Dragon made for us this week.  It is comforting and warming, which is great because it is just starting to cool down.  I love the slight smoky edge to it.  It has been a bit of a stressful week, so this meal hit the spot.  Plus its packed full of vegetables, has high protein, low fat and a good amount of carbs.  Hitting all the boxes! Boom!

Ingredients

Serves 6

• 1kg 5 star beef mince/low fat mince
• 2 small carrots, diced small
• 2 celery stalks, diced small
• 1 brown onion, diced
• 1 zucchini, grated
• 1/2 red capsicum, diced small
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 punnet cherry/perino/grape tomatoes (optional)
• 4 slashes of worchestershire sauce
• 2 tbs tomato paste
• 400g can of diced Italian tomatoes
• 1 tsp of beef stock in 1/3 cup of water
• 1/4 tsp smoked paprika
• 1/3 tsp pepper steak seasoning
• salt and pepper
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• 1 bunch fresh parsley
• 3 serves of garlic mash (each serve does 2 pies)
• 4 spring onions, finely diced (optional)

Potential Spins

While this is a recipe for individual cottage pies, feel free to make a big batch in a casserole dish instead if that is easier.  Swap the white potatoes for sweet potatoes if you want to be healthier.  When it comes to this meal, just throw in whatever veggies you have in the fridge. I happened to have the ones listed above, so I used them.  I'd recommend the basic mirepoix of celery, carrot and onion as a base though.  It is a staple.  I didn't include the cherry tomatoes, and used tomato sauce the first night (sacrilege I know) then tried blistering the cherry tomatoes in a frypan on the next night (topped with oregano), and adding them on top of the mince before topping with potato, and it was amazing. So you can do that or add them into the mix, wither way.

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celcius/356 degrees Fahrenheit
2. Using a large frypan, cook the mirepoix (celery, carrots and onion) over a medium heat until the onion is translucent and the carrot and celery are softened.  Add garlic, tomato paste, pepper steak seasoning and smoked paprika.
3. Add the mince and brown.
4. Add tomatoes, oregano, parsley, Worcestershire sauce, beef stock and other vegetables (excluding the spring onions)
5. Cook, covered, for 30 minutes on medium heat, stirring occasionally, then remove the lid.
6. Make garlic mash following this recipe, adding some spring onions if desired.  Meanwhile, simmer the beef mix until the liquid has reduced.
7. Scoop the mix into 6 individual pie dishes, topped with mash and parmesan cheese.  Bake for 30 minutes.  Allow to cool for 5 minutes, then serve.

Nutritional Breakdown

• Calories322.1
• Total Fat6.6 g
• Saturated Fat2.5 g
• Polyunsaturated Fat0.1 g
• Monounsaturated Fat0.2 g
• Cholesterol98.9 mg
• Sodium606.1 mg
• Potassium644.4 mg
• Total Carbohydrate28.5 g
• Dietary Fiber4.6 g
• Sugars4.5 g
• Protein39.8 g