My sister and her little ones are coming for lunch today and M is, more importantly, coming for his regular play date with My Love. They escape off into their own little world with N trying desperately to keep up. My sister and I try and catch up amongst the wonderful chaos and more recently I get in snuggles with L, my sisters newborn daughter. But the one thing I can guarantee is that I cook them all something nice for lunch and they all leave - full!
This recipe is the first ever recipe I cooked when I left home. I left home very young but was excited that I would have my own kitchen and I could cook my own food. I cut this recipe out of a magazine and had slipped it in cover of my diary. I still have the crumpled and browned piece of magazine paper but don't need it now as I know the recipe by heart. I do believe it was also one of the first meals I cooked My Love when we met. lol. So this recipe has history for me and makes me smile at the memories that come with it. Hence the renaming of 'Old Faithful'. I hope you try it and enjoy it too.
'Old Faithful' Veggie Cottage Pie
(Recipe from a magazine 23 years ago!!!Gulp!)
2 tsp sunflower oil
2 garlic cloves, grated
2 leeks, sliced
8oz parsnips, halved and sliced
3 sticks celery, chopped
8oz carrots, halved and sliced
4oz button mushrooms, halved
1 tin mixed beans in chilli sauce
1 tin of haricot beans, rinsed and drained
1/4 pt 150ml passata
1/4 pt 150ml veggie stock
1 1/2 lb potatoes, peeled
1 1/2 lb parsnips, peeled
Heat the oil and fry the garlic for 30 seconds. Stir in the leeks and cook for 1 minute. Add the parsnips, celery and carrots, stir well and cover and cook for 5 minutes. Stir well and then add the mushrooms and beans. Add the passata and the stock and season to taste with freshly ground black pepper. Bring to the boil and simmer for 20 minutes uncovered. Stir frequently.
Place the chopped potatoes and parsnips into a steamer and steam until soft. (Or boil if that's your choice). Mash them together until light and fluffy.
In a long rectangular baking dish spoon in the cooked veggie mix and smooth to make even. Then place spoonfuls of the potato/parsnip mix across the veggie mix and then with a spoon smooth it out, covering the veggie mix. Drag the prongs of a fork across the top of the potato so when its baked there will be peaks of toasty potato.
Bake in a 440'F/200'C/Gas Mark 6 oven for 20 minutes.
