Veggie bites: Meatless Christmas cottage pie with sweet potato mash

Cooking time: 60-70 minutes

Serves: 8

You’ll need

• 600g The Meatless Farm Co. Meat Free Mince
• 1.5kg sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 100g salted butter
• 6 sage leaves, finely chopped
• 1½ tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 3 cloves garic, finely chopped
• 2 large carrots, peeled and cubed
• 2 parsnips, peeled and cubed
• 3 tbsp tomato puree
• 150ml red wine
• 300ml vegetable stock
• 70g dried cranberries
• 100g frozen peas
• 3 rosemary sprigs, finely chopped
• Salt, to taste
• Pepper, to taste
• 20g crispy onions
• 30g walnuts, roughly chopped
• Rosemary sprigs to garnish

Method

1. Start by making the sweet potato mash. Put the cubed sweet potatoes into a pan of boiling water and boil for 10–12 minutes until soft. Drain, then return straight to the hot pan. Add the butter and the chopped sage leaves, season with salt and pepper and then mash until smooth.
2. Preheat the oven to 180C.
3. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan and fry the onion and garlic until soft.
4. Add The Meatless Farm Co. Meat Free Mince and fry for a further 3-4 minutes until it starts to brown, then add the carrots and parsnips.
5. Pour in the red wine and vegetable stock, stir in the tomato puree and simmer over a medium heat for 10 minutes until the vegetables soften.
6. Finally add the dried cranberries, peas and chopped rosemary, mix well, and then tip the mince mix into a large baking dish.
7. Top the mince with the mashed sweet potato and smooth the top evenly. Sprinkle over the crispy onions and chopped walnuts and then cook in the preheated oven for 20–25 minutes, until the top is golden, peaks in the mash start to go crispy and the mince sauce bubbles underneath. Check the cottage pie after 15 minutes and if the walnuts and onions are starting to catch, loosely cover with foil.
8. Remove from the oven, garnish with extra sprigs of fresh rosemary and enjoy immediately.