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

Chorizo, Butternut Squash & Spinach Risotto

Ah Valentine's Day, possibly the least romantic day of the year. Flowers and a nice meal shouldn't be a once a year occurance; if you're lucky enough to be in a happy relationship, you should do something romantic for the person you love all the time. If you're single, you shouldn't be made to feel bad about it by the tedious status updates of the 'OMG, just received an embarrassingly large bunch of flowers' variety.

Last year Chris managed to dislocate his shoulder on Valentine's Day, so this year I was just glad he wasn't high on morphine with his arm hanging off. As Valentine's Day is renound for being the absolute worst day to go out for dinner, we stayed at home and I cooked us chorizo, butternut squash and spinach risotto. Packed full of flavour from my favourite ingredients, it's simple enough for a midweek meal but special enough for a treat.

Serves 2 hungry people!
150g risotto rice
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
500ml vegetable or chicken stock
100ml white wine
50g chorizo, skinned and chopped into small chunks
Half a butternut squash, peeled, deseeded
1 tbsp half fat creme fraiche
1 tbsp milk
2 handfuls of spinach

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees. Peel, deseed and cut the butternut squash into small chunks. Roast with a little oil and pepper for 45 minutes, until the flesh is soft
2. Meanwhile, gently fry the onion in a little butter until soft. Add the garlic and chorizo and cook until the chorizo has started to go crispy. Add the rice and cook for a further minute
3. Stir the wine into the rice, let it bubble away until it has cooked off completely. Gradually add the stock by the ladelful, stirring regularily, making sure all the liquid has bubbled away before you you add more
4. Once the butternut squash is done, add half to a blender with the creme fraiche and plenty of black pepper, wizz until you have a smooth paste. You don't want the paste to be too thick, so add a little milk to loosen it if necessary. Keep the rest of the squash warm in the oven whilst you finish the risotto
5. Once the rice has plumped up and only has a little bite left, stir in the butternut squash puree and spinach. Cook for a few more minutes, until the spinach has wilted. Divide between two warm bowls, topped with the roasted butternut squash and Parmesan

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

Beef & Mushroom Pie with Parsnip Mash

I made this beef and mushroom pie for our pre-Christmas day, it's one of my favourite recipes as it's easy and doesn't have too many ingredients. The recipe is originally from Good Food, but I made a few changes (mainly more wine, garlic & herbs). It's easily the best pie I've ever made, largely due to the excellent meat I bought from Meat N16. I normally just pick up beef from the supermarket, but it is often a little tough, even when cooked for hours. If you live anywhere near Church Street, I'd definitely recommend heading to Meat N16. Their braising steak is beautifully marbled, when cooked it is perfectly tender and adds an incredibly rich flavour to stews or pies.

I served the pie with parsnip mash; simply boil parsnips in salted water until tender, mash with a little milk, butter and a dollop of horseradish to perk it up. Parsnips can be a little stringy, so I like to add a little potato to improve the consistency. I also served braised leeks, but any greens would be lovely.

Serves 4

500g beef braising steak

1 onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, crushed

250g mixed oyster & chestnut mushrooms

A few sprigs of rosemary & thyme

1 tbsp tomato paste

1 tbsp flour

250ml red wine

300ml hot beef stock, use one of the Knorr stock pots

350g potatoes, peeled

25g butter, chopped into small pieces

1. Pre-heat the oven to 130 degrees. Cut the beef into cubes a couple of centimetres across. Using a heavy based pan, brown the meat in batches using a little oil. Once all the meat has been browned, remove from the pan
2. Add a little extra oil, turn down the heat and fry the onion until softened. Now add the mushrooms and garlic and soften for a further 5-10 minutes. Mix in the flour and tomato paste, and gently fry for a few minutes
3. Turn the heat up and add the red wine, simmer until most of the liquid has cooked off. Now add the stock, beef, herbs and seasoning, bring to a gentle simmer. Cover and cook in the oven for 2-3 hours until the meat is tender
4. For the topping, boil the potatoes whole, leave to cool, then grate. Transfer the beef to a pie dish, top with the grated potato, dot with butter and sprinkle over a little paprika if you fancy. Pop in the oven at 170 degrees for 30 minutes. Finish off under the grill to make the topping super crispy

Thai Red Curry with Chicken & Butternut Squash

I know it's lazy but when I get home from work I can never be bothered to make my own curry paste. In place of the real deal, I tend to use a good quality paste and spruce it up with some extras, you'll hardly notice the difference. To save the pennies, I only used two chicken breasts and bulked the recipe out with butternut squash. It's still super tasty, just cheaper and healthier! 

Serves 4
2 free range chicken breasts, cut into large chunks
Butternut squash, deseeded and cut into 2cm chunks
White onion, chopped
Red pepper, chopped
3 garlic cloves, grated
2cm piece of ginger, grated
Mixed pack of mange tout & mini sweetcorn
400ml can reduced fat coconut milk
100g jar red curry paste (ideally Bart's)
Juice of 1 lime
1 tbsp fish sauce
Rice to serve

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Put the butternut squash chunks into a roasting tin, drizzle with oil and pop in the oven for 45 minutes
2. Meanwhile, heat a large pan with a tablespoon of oil on a medium heat. Add the chopped onion and red pepper to the pan, gently fry for 10 minutes. Next add the mange tout, sweetcorn, garlic and ginger, allow to soften for a few minutes
3. Now add the Thai curry paste, reduced fat coconut milk, fish sauce, lime juice and chicken. Bring to a light simmer and cook for 20 minutes, allowing the chicken to poach in the sauce. Add the roasted butternut squash for the final 5 minutes, serve with jasmine rice

Lamb & Harissa Meatballs with Spaghetti

On Monday night I made these spicy meatballs, I served them with spaghetti but they'd also be lovely with cous cous and a dollop of yoghurt. Using ready made harissa paste is a quick and easy way of adding lots of flavour without spending hours over the stove. It works perfectly with lamb and adds a nice kick to the sauce, without being too spicy.

Serves 4
500g lean lamb mince
4 tbsp harissa paste
1 onion, finely diced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
500ml creamed tomatoes
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp paprika
1 tbsp tomato paste
Small bag baby leaf spinach

1. With your hands, mix together the lamb mince and 2 tbsp of harissa paste. Shape the lamb into 16 meatballs. 
2. Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a heavy based pan and cook the meatballs in batches, until browned all over. Remove from the pan and add the onion and garlic. Fry on a medium heat for 10-15 minutes until soft.
3. Add the creamed tomatoes, tomato paste, spices, a further 2 tablespoons of harissa paste and season well. 
4. Add the meatballs back into the sauce and gently simmer for 30 minutes, until the meatballs have cooked through and the sauce has thickened. Fold the spinach in for the last 5 minutes, so it wilts. Serve with spaghetti and pecorino!

Chicken, Spinach & Butternut Squash Curry

Last week I made this super tasty chicken curry. I don't tend to cook authentic Indian food at home as I can rarely be bothered to make my own curry paste and to me the shop bought ones taste pretty good. This takes about an hour and a half to make, so maybe not ideal for a school night, but it's well worth the time and effort.

I used chicken thighs and drumsticks as they're so much cheaper than breast meat (it was less than £4 for enough free range meat for 5 portions). Adding butternut squash and spinach is a handy way of getting a few of your five a day and in my opinion they're a great addition to any curry. The lentils help to thicken the sauce and absorb the excess liquid so you get a deliciously thick sauce, perfect for mopping up with some naan bread. I also nabbed some onion bhajis from work, which were perfectly crisp and full of flavour.

Serves 4-6

800g free range chicken drumsticks and/or thighs
4 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 onion, chopped
1 butternut squash, cut into bite size chunks
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp hot chili powder
2 tbsp curry paste (I used Pataks)
1 tin reduced fat coconut milk
1/2 jar passata
1 bag of spinach
6 tbsp red split lentils 

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees. Put the bite size chunks of butternut squash into a large baking tray in one layer, drizzle with oil and cook for 45 minutes or until soft.
2. Meanwhile mix the spices and garlic with a little oil to make a paste, spread the mixture over the chicken and leave to marinade for 20 minutes (or longer if you have time). 
3. Heat a little oil in a heavy based pan and fry the chicken until browned. Remove the chicken from the pan and add the onion. Gently fry for 10 minutes, then add the curry paste & lentils and fry for a few more minutes. 
4. Add the passata, coconut milk and chicken. Bring the mixture to the boil, then turn down the heat, put the lid on and cook for 40 minutes. Add the roasted squash for the final 15 minutes of cooking.
5. When the lentils have plumped up and absorbed the excess liquid, add the spinach a handful at a time and let it wilt. Once all the spinach has been added serve with brown rice.

Chicken marinading:

 Chicken, spinach & butternut squash curry:

Deliverance onion bhajis:

The finished article: