Recipe: Budget beany cottage pie with leek and potato mash

Another budget recipe is here, but still has bags of flavour and lots of your lovely five-a-day veggies.

The addition of some of the concentrated chicken stock from the recipe last month really helps the flavour of this dish, but if substituted for vegetable stock this would be suitable for vegetarians.

To make it vegan, swap out the grated cheese for a sprinkling of yeast flakes or some toasted seeds of your choice – pumpkin, sunflower, sesame or a mixture of all three.

Serve with purple sprouting broccoli or a salad on the side.

Ingredients

125g onion

150g squash

75g carrot

One stick celery

Two cloves garlic

A few glugs of olive oil

400g can of mixed beans, drained

Half a can of tomatoes

550ml concentrated chicken stock

One teaspoon smoked paprika

One teaspoon dried oregano

Half teaspoon ground cumin

Pinch of chilli flakes (optional)

One teaspoon sugar

Salt and black pepper

400g potato

75g leek (trimmed weight)

20g butter or spread

100g grated red cheese

Parsley to serve

Preparation

1. Finely slice the onion, carrot and celery and put in separate piles on a plate. Peel and dice the squash into bean sized pieces and place in another pile. Finely chop the garlic and set aside. Peel the potatoes and cut into 1cm cubes. Clean and slice the leek.
2. Put a pan of water on to boil and put the potatoes in a steamer above it. When they have been steaming for 15 minutes, sprinkle the sliced leek over them and cook for a further five to 10 minutes, until the potatoes are soft. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.
3. In a small pan put a glug of oil and a third of the onion and stir and fry over a low heat until the onion is translucent. Add half of the carrot and half of the celery. Add water to just cover and cook until the veg are soft. Transfer to a blender, add the half can of tomatoes and blitz until smooth.
4. Meanwhile, add the remaining onion and another glug of oil to a frying pan and cook until the onion turns translucent. Add the garlic and fry a few seconds more. Add the squash, the remaining carrot and celery, the chicken stock, paprika, oregano and cumin.

Cook over a low heat until the squash is beginning to soften then add the drained beans and the contents of the blender. Cook until well amalgamated and the liquid has reduced. Season with the sugar, salt and pepper to your taste.

5. Set the oven to 180°C. Pour the bean mixture into a casserole dish. Put the potatoes and leeks through a potato ricer if you have one or use a potato masher or a fork. Carefully place spoonfuls of the mash on the bean mixture, starting around the edges and then filling in the middle. Dot with the butter or spread and sprinkle the grated cheese on top. Bake for 25 minutes until the cheese has melted and the top is golden.
6. Sprinkle with parsley to serve.