Sweet Potato Cottage Pie

Cottage pie is the perfect way to feed all the family - it contains 5 different vegetables, and is delicious and very filling - it will go a long way so is great value for money. You can prepare it in advance, and is a great way to get in some veggies without really noticing. Also perfect as a meal for one or two as you will be left with portions for the rest of the week or to freeze and re-heat at a later date.

Just look at that cheesy goodness making it the ultimate 'healthy' comfort food!

Sweet potato is a great alternative to normal potatoes as not only do they have a great flavour, but they are also higher in vitamins and have a lower GI, so they transform the traditional cottage pie to a more tasty and healthy meal for the family!

Serves 4

- 2 medium-large sweet potatoes, peeled & chopped

- olive oil

- 500g pack of extra lean beef mince

- 2 onions, chopped

- 2 carrots, chopped

- 4 cloves of garlic, crushed

- 5 large mushrooms, sliced

- few generous glugs of Worcester sauce

- tomato ketchup (or tomato purée, if you have it)

- dried mixed herbs

- small handful of plain flour

- 500ml beef stock

- 200g frozen peas

- dash of milk

- knob of butter

- salt & pepper

- 75g extra strong cheddar cheese

1. Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil and cook the sweet potato until soft (about 20 minutes), and pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees.

2. Meanwhile, drizzle some olive oil into a large saucepan and brown the mince. Add in the onion and carrot and cook for a few more minutes.

3. When softened, add the cloves of garlic, mushrooms, Worcester sauce, tomato ketchup, dried herbs and flour, and mix together until combined.

4. Pour in the prepared beef stock and bring to the boil, then add the frozen peas. Simmer for about 10 minutes or until reduced and thickened.

5. Drain the sweet potato when cooked and return to the pan. Pour in some milk, butter and season, then mash until smooth.

6. Pour the mince mixture into a large oven-proof dish, then smooth the sweet potato mash on top using a spoon. Grate the cheddar on top and bake in the pre-heated oven for about 20 minutes, or until piping hot in the middle and golden on top.

7. Serve hot from the oven with green veg of your choice (I had long-stemmed broccoli!)

Enjoy :)

Chicken, broccoli & stilton pasta bake

A great pasta dish to make in advance for a quick, family meal, or to re-heat for lunches in the week!

This pasta bake is really moist and full of flavour - it would also be great with bacon in too.

I have posted a similar recipe before, here.

Serves 4

- 450g pasta (I used penne and farfalle)

- olive oil

- 4 chicken thighs (or breasts), chopped

- 4 cloves of garlic, crushed

- 2 onions, chopped

- 1 large broccoli, chopped small

- 50g butter

- 50g plain flour

- 500ml milk

- few dashes of Worcestershire sauce

- salt & pepper

- pack of stilton, crumbled

- parmesan, grated

1. Cook the pasta in a large pan of salted water according to packet instructions.

2. Meanwhile, fry the chicken thighs in olive oil until browned, then add the garlic and onion. Once cooked, leave to one side.

3. When the pasta is about 5 minutes from the end of its cooking time, add the broccoli florets. When the pasta is cooked, drain with the broccoli and set aside.

4. To make the white sauce, melt the butter in a saucepan then stir in the flour. Using a whisk, over a low heat, gradually whisk in the milk until fairly thick - not too runny but enough to generously coat all of the pasta and ingredients.

5. Add the Worcestershire sauce and season to taste then take off the heat.

6. Return the pasta and broccoli to the large pan they were cooked in, then stir in the chicken and onions, and coat in the white sauce, stirring until well mixed. 

7. Stir in about 3/4 of the crumbled stilton, then pour the pasta into a large baking dish. Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees.

8. Top the basta bake with the remaining stilton and sprinkle with a generous amount of grated parmesan.

9. Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes, or until bubbling and golden on top! (May need longer if prepared way in advance - make sure it is piping hot in the middle)

Enjoy :)

Chorizo & rosemary pasta

This comforting pasta dish has amazing flavour from the smoky chorizo, rosemary and rich tomato sauce.

And the best part is - it all cooks in one pan, so it is a perfect quick and easy mid-week meal!

And a great way to incorporate spinach into your diet.

Serves 2
- olive oil
- 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
- 1 large onion, chopped
- few sprigs of rosemary, leaves chopped
- 400ml chicken stock (or vegetable)
- tin of chopped tomatoes
- 200g farfalle (or any other pasta)
- 250g chorizo, sliced
- 200g baby leaf spinach

1. Heat the oil in a large pan, and fry the garlic and onions for a few minutes, then stir in the rosemary.
2. Make up the chicken stock in a jug then pour into the pan with the chopped tomatoes and bring to the boil.
3. Add the pasta to the pan then cover and simmer for about 10-12 minutes, or until the pasta is cooked. Keep checking and stirring to make sure the pasta doesn't stick to the bottom, and add more water if needed.
4. When the pasta is cooked and the sauce is reduced, stir in the sliced chorizo and spinach until wilted and all mixed together. Then serve with some fresh rosemary on top!

Enjoy :)

Beef casserole & roast potatoes

A hearty beef casserole to warm you up through the cold weather

Perfect with some crispy-bottomed roasties

Serves 2-3

For the casserole

- olive oil

- 1 large onion, thickly chopped

- 1 clove of garlic, chopped

- 450g casserole steak, chopped

- plain flour

- salt & pepper

- 2 carrots, chopped

- 2 tbsp worcestershire sauce

- 400ml beef stock

- 100g mushrooms, chopped

- sprigs of fresh thyme

For the roast potatoes

- maris piper or king edward potatoes, halved or quartered

- olive oil

- seasoning (spice & herb blend or whatever you like)

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees.

2. In a large pan, fry the onion and garlic in a generous amount of olive oil for a few minutes. Then add the beef, a sprinkling of flour and seasoning and stiry to combine, cooking for a few more minutes.

3. Next add the carrots, then the best ingredient

4. And the beef stock. Bring to the boil, then simmer.

5. Add the mushrooms and fresh sprigs of thyme, then transfer to a casserole dish with a lid, and cook in the oven for about two hours (stirring halfway through). 

6. Meanwhile, while the casserole is cooking, for the roast potatoes, prepare as many as you wish (depending on your appetite) and par-boil in salted water for around 10-15 minutes.

7. Drain and place on kitchen paper, leaving to cool and dry out for 20-30 minutes.

8. Pour a generous amount of oil into a roasting tin and place in the oven, turning it up to 200 degrees, until the oil has heated up.

9. Remove the tray from the oven and transfer the potatoes into the dish, coating in the hot oil. Season well and then roast in the oven for around 40 minutes, or until crisped to your likening.

10. By the end of the two hours, your casserole should be thicker (add cornflour if not) and ready to serve, accompanied by roasties that are fluffy in the middle, and crisp on the outside.

Enjoy :)

Soda bread

Perfect served hot from the oven, smothered in butter with a bowl of soup for a pick me up on a cold day!

I bought some cream of tomato soup for lunch and wanted to make some bread to go with it, but needed a quick, easy recipe so I thought soda bread would be perfect. Soda bread uses buttermilk (or milk and lemon) and bicarbonate of soda as a raising agent, rather than yeast, so it is really simple and quick to make but has great flavour from the cheese and herbs in this recipe. 

It is quite a dense bread so is great with something runny like soup. I used my lovely mum's recipe - she always makes it and it is delicious so I wanted to give it a try. The original recipe uses half wholemeal and half plain flour but I didn't have any wholemeal so used all plain (to my mum's dismay) and it worked just as well so it is up to you what you choose to use!

I am ashamed to say that my boyfriend and I ate both the loaves I made in one sitting (it's better hot from the oven anyway...) but realistically this recipe will serve 4 as the original recipe says to divide into 4 balls of dough to bake. It's up to you if you want to separate it into just two like we did, or one big one - although remember that the bigger it is, the longer it will take to cook in the middle so cooking times may vary.

Serves 2-4

- 225g wholemeal flour

- 225g plain flour

- 1 tsp salt

- 2 tsp baking powder

- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

- 50g butter

- 2 tsp dried mixed herbs

- 75g cheddar cheese, grated

- 250-300 ml milk

- 2 tsp lemon juice

1. Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees, and grease and flour a baking tray.

2. In a large mixing bowl, sift together the flour, salt, baking powder and soda.

3. Stir in the butter, herbs and grated cheese.

4. In a separate jug, mix together the milk and the lemon juice, then pour enough into the bowl to make a soft dough. (The original recipe said 300ml of milk and I found this too much and had to add a lot more flour to get it to the right consistency, so add less milk first as you can always add more!)

5. Knead lightly in the bowl until the correct consistency then break into 4 or 2 equal pieces and round into a ball shape.

6. Place on the baking tray and flatten the tops slightly, and cut two parallel slashes in the top of each.

7. Bake in the oven for 20-30 minutes, then slice and serve hot with lots of butter! (Which has to be lurpak...)

Enjoy :)

Chicken and stuffing pie

This is the ultimate comfort food pie - you will love it.

As with all great pie recipes, it comes from Lisa Faulkner - her books are my favourite and this recipe is from her most recent book which I would highly recommend. I have also made her chicken and mushroom pie (click here for recipe) and her turkey and leek pie before (click here for recipe)

I changed Lisa Faulkner's recipe a bit, adding garlic and wholegrain mustard to mine, and I also used half the amount of stuffing to her recipe which I thought was the perfect amount, but if you love stuffing and want it oozing then feel free to double my quantity! The stuffing is layered between two sheets of puff pastry so I was sceptical and thought this may make the pie soggy but no no no, it was absolutely perfect and had the most delicious flavour and textures.

I used leftover roast chicken from the previous night to make this pie (click here for recipe!) I would highly recommend using leftover roast chicken because it just has such great flavour and will be moist and tender, and you can use a mixture of breast, thigh, wing etc. Equally, if you are wanting to make this so desperately (which you should be) and haven't got any leftover roast chicken, then cooking chicken thighs or breasts would still work.

Bake this pie and then curl up on the sofa in comfort food heaven. A perfect weekend treat with some oven cooked chips and a glass of wine.

Serves 4

- 85g sage and onion stuffing

- 50g butter

- 2 cloves of garlic, crushed

- 1 onion, chopped

- 50g flour

- 200ml chicken stock

- 150ml single cream

- 2 tsp wholegrain mustard

- 500g cooked chicken, torn

- 200g mushrooms, sliced

- handful of fresh parsley, chopped

- black pepper

- 375g ready rolled puff pastry (Sainsbury's size - quantity can vary)

- 1 egg, beaten

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.
2. Make the stuffing (mix with boiling water according to packet instructions) and set aside.
3. Fry the garlic and onion in the butter for 5 minutes, or until softened.

4. Mix in the flour, then add the chicken stock, cream and wholegrain mustard. Bring to the boil, then simmer for 10 minutes.
5. Stir in the cooked chicken, mushrooms, parsley, and pepper, and cook for a further 5-10 minutes.

6. Transfer the mixture to a pie dish.

7. Cut two layers of pastry to fit the pie dish. Spread one layer with the prepared stuffing.

8. Place the other sheet of pastry on top of the stuffing and press into the other sheet of pastry.

9. Brush the insides of the pie dish above the filling with beaten egg, then place the pastry on top, pressing lightly into the sides to mould to the shape of the dish. Brush the top of the pastry with egg and using a sharp knife, pierce three slits into the middle.

10. Cook in the oven for around 30 minutes, or until bubbling inside and golden brown on top.

Enjoy :)

Chicken, bacon and pesto pasta bake

Beat the January blues with this deliciously, comforting pasta bake - a great weekend treat as part of your nutritious, healthy start to 2014.

I love the combination of peas and pesto, it works really well and is a perfect way to incorporate vegetables for those who don't like to eat them on their own, and to make a naughty pasta bake a bit more healthy! You can use chicken breasts for this but I prefer chicken thighs as they are so moist and tender.

Serves 2

- 200-250g pasta (I used bows and penne)

- 2 chicken thighs, chopped

- 4 rashers of bacon, chopped

- 1 large red onion, chopped

- 160g frozen peas

- 1/2 jar of basil pesto

- 150ml double cream

- parmesan

- cheddar

1. Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees.

2. Bring a large pan of water to the boil and cook the pasta according to packet instructions.

3. Meanwhile, in some olive oil, fry the chicken thighs until browned, then add the bacon and cook for a few minute before you add the onion. Cook until the onions are softened.

4. When the pasta is five minutes from being done, add the peas to the same pan of boiling water and cook with the pasta. When ready, drain and set aside.

5. Add the pesto and cream to the chicken and bacon mixture and stir until combined. Then add the pasta and peas, a grating of parmesan, and mix together well.

6. Transfer to an oven proof dish then grate some cheddar and a generous amount of parmesan on top.

7. Cover with foil and bake in the oven for 20-30 minutes, removing the foil if you prefer it crispy on top.

Enjoy :)

Spaghetti Carbonara

I was craving creamy pasta so bad the other week that I had to whip up a classic carbonara. It was so delicious it didn't stay on my plate for very long. This dish is right at the top of my favourite comfort foods, and is great for a special occasion if you don't have much time but want something that will impress. Perfect served with some oozing garlic bread.

Serves 2
- 100g pancetta, cubed
- 150g mushrooms, sliced
- 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
- 200g spaghetti
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 150ml double cream
- pepper
- fresh parmesan, grated

1. Fry the pancetta in olive oil or butter until it starts to crisp, then add the mushrooms and garlic and cook until softened.
2. Meanwhile, in salted boiling water, cook the spaghetti according to packet instructions (about 10 mins).
3. Mix together the beaten egg and cream in a jug and add as much black pepper as you like. Stir in a generous amount of grated parmesan.
4. When the spaghetti is cooked, drain and add to the pan with the pancetta and mushrooms.
5. Pour in the egg and cream to the pasta and stir until combined over a low heat for a few minutes.
6. Serve immediately and grate a generous amount of parmesan on top and some more pepper, et voila!

Be sure to follow me on instagram if you like to look at pictures of food and see what I've been eating! 'lottierainbow'

Enjoy :)

Bolognese bake

 (I only took one photo when out of the oven - apologies!)

Super easy, delicious food that everyone will love. A twist on a good old spag bol - take an exciting, different pasta like conchiglioni (large pasta shells) and bake with mozzarella and fresh basil!

Serves 4

- 450g lean beef mince

- 2 cloves of garlic, crushed

- 2 red onions, chopped

- 200g mushrooms, sliced

- jar of good pasta sauce (I used Sacla with whole tomatoes in - see pic below)

- glug of balsamic vinegar

- seasoning

- 350g conchiglioni (or pasta of your choice)

- 1 ball of mozzarella, sliced

- handful of fresh basil

- handful of cheddar cheese, grated

1. For the bolognese part, brown the mince in a large pan then add the garlic and onions and cook for a few minutes before adding the mushrooms.

2. Meanwhile, cook the pasta in salted water according to packet instructions.

3. When the mince mixture is cooked through, add the sauce, balsamic vinegar and seasoning. Bring to the boil and then simmer for 5-10 minutes.

4. Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees.

5. When the pasta is cooked, drain and mix with the bolognese mixture.

6. Pour everything into a baking dish and top with the slices of mozzarella and torn basil leaves. Don't forget to grate some cheddar on top too.

7. Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes or until bubbling and golden brown on top.

Enjoy :)