Cheesy Cottage Pie

The humble cottage pie isn't the most glamourous of dishes, but it is the perfect antidote to a miserable Sunday evening. Mash potato is the ultimate comfort food, add melted cheese and juicy beef into the mix and you've got yourself a delicious dinner!

Serves 4-6

500g beef mince

1 onion, chopped

1 carrot, peeled and chopped

4 garlic cloves, crushed

2 tbsps tomato puree

250ml red wine

500ml beef stock

1 tbsp plain flour

A couple of bay leaves

Worcestershire sauce

For the topping:

900g floury potatoes

Butter

Milk

100g cheddar, grated

1. Fry the beef in a little oil for 10 minutes until it has begun to brown. Add the onions, garlic and carrot and cook for a further 10 minutes until softened. Add the flour and fry for a few minutes, next add the red wine. Bubble away until most of the liquid has evaporated. Add the beef stock, tomato puree and bay leaves. Turn the heat down, cover and simmer for 1 hour. Taste and add the Worcestershire sauce and seasoning
2. At this point you want the sauce to be nice and thick, so that mash can sit on top of it rather than just melting in. If you need to reduce it further, remove the meat & vegetables with a slotted spoon, you can discard the bay leaves at this point. Then put the gravy over a reasonably high heat and simmer until it has thickened
3. Meanwhile, boil the potatoes for 20 minutes or until soft. Mash with the butter and milk and season. Pour the meat and gravy into a large dish and top with the mash - make sure you rough the mash up with a fork so it goes nice and crispy. Grate the cheese over the top and bake for 45 minutes. Serve with your vegetable of choice, I went for stir fried cabbage with caraway seeds

Spicy Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

I made this winter soup in December and froze half which we ate for dinner on new year's day. There's nothing more comforting than homemade soup, it's simple and cheap to make and so much nicer than the watery, bland versions you can buy in the supermarket. I served this with a little fried chorizo on top as I had it in the fridge. You can play around with the toppings using whatever you have availiable to you. My mum made something similar over Christmas topped with finely sliced spring onion & red chili, some whole cumin seeds gently dry fried until they begin to release their spicy aroma would also make a good addition to this simple soup.

Serves 4
Butternut squashed, peeled, deseeded and cut into small chunks
1 onion, roughly chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
100g split lentils, rinsed
2 bay leaves
750ml vegetable or chicken stock
1 or 2 tbsp Pataks curry paste (I used madras)
1/2 tin low fat coconut milk

1. Roast the squash in a pre-heated oven for 45 minutes, or until soft. Meanwhile soften the onion and garlic in a little oil for 10 minutes. Add the lentils, stock, bay leaves and seasoning, cover and simmer for 30 minutes until the lentils are soft
2. Add the butternut squash to the soup and simmer for a further 5 minutes. If the soup is too thick add a little extra stock. Remove the bay leaves, then blend the soup until smooth. Return to the hob and add the curry paste (to taste) and coconut milk, make sure the soup is warm and serve with warm crusty bread and a swirl of creme fraiche