toddlers cottage pie

An easy prep meal that will keep you stocked up with delicious and nutritious mid-week meals. Makes at least 8 servings.

Ingredients

• olive oil

• 1 brown onion chopped finely

• 2-3 garlic cloves finely chopped or crushed (I find the best technique is to smash the cloves with the back of a large knife, then give them a rough chop).

• 1-2 carrots diced

• 2 sticks of celery diced

• pinch of fresh oregano or thyme leaves

• 400-500g higher welfare beef mince

• 1 zucchini diced

• 2 tablespoons of tomato passata (or if you don’t have any, I have used tomato sauce and it was fine).

• 400ml (2 cups) of beef stock (opt for low salt and gluten-free if you like)

• 1 can (400g) of brown lentils

• 4-6 medium potatoes (use a type of potato that is best for mashing, such as Desiree or Dutch Creams)

• a good knob of butter

• splash of milk

• 1-2 handfuls of grated cheddar or tasty to sprinkle on top.

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180C

2. Heat a good splash of olive oil in a medium to large-sized saucepan. Add the chopped onion then fry for about 5 minutes, continuously stirring so it doesn’t brown/burn, until it is soft and transparent. Stir in the chopped garlic, carrots, celery. Season with pepper and oregano or thyme. Cook this down until the carrot is soft.

3. When the veggie mixture is looking caramelised and soft you can add the beef. Brown the beef and then add the zucchini and passata (or tomato paste/sauce if you have run out of passata).

4. Pour in the beef stock and add the drained lentils. Cook this down for another 30-40 minutes. Make sure you season it to perfection!

5. Whilst this is cooking down you can get started on the potatoes. Boil the pot-heads fro about 10-15 minutes until tender. Drain and then mash! Make sure you add loads of butter and a splash of warm milk.

6. Remove the beef and veggie mixture from the heat and then spoon into 8 ramekins. Spoon over the mash into each ramekin and then sprinkle with the tasty grated cheese. If you need to, you can pop a few of these into the freezer which can be kept for up to 6 weeks.

7. Pop the ramekins into the oven and bake for 30 minutes. The mice will be bubbling up at the sides and the top should be beautifully golden and delectable-looking when it is ready. Make sure it has cooled down properly (at least 10-15 minutes) before you serve to your little ones! Then enjoy this cracker of a home-cooked meal!