Shepards Pie

INGREDIENTS

• 200g lean minced Beef
• 1 onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 carrots
• 2 sticks of celery
• 1 tin of tomatoes
• 1 beef stock cube
• 2 tablespoons of tomato puree
• 2 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce
• 6 large potatoes
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 1 tablespoon (or more) fresh mixed herbs, parsely, sage, rosemary and thyme (dried will do)

METHOD

1. Wash, peel and cut the potatoes, not too small or they go too watery. Put them into a saucepan to boil.
2. Peel and dice the onion, heat a little oil in another saucepan and add onion, salt and pepper saute until soft
3. Peel the carrots and cut into small dice, add to the pan
4. Wash and cut the celery into small dice, add to the pan
5. Peel and crush the garlic, add this and the herbs to the pan.
6. Put on the oven to pre-heat at 190oC
7. Add the mince and stir well until turned from red to brown, drain any fat or water that appears.
8. Add the tomatoes and puree and bring to the boil. lower and simmer until the veg are soft.
9. Drain the potatoes, add the oil and mash well
10. Put the meat and veg mixture into an ovenproof dish, then gently put the mashed potatoes in a layer on top of it, spread it carefully with a fork then put into the oven for 15mins or until the top is golden brown.

The tomato puree is full of the carotenoid lycopene I mentioned in the previous post and is more easily absorbed than raw unprocessed tomatoes, the olive oil also helps this absorption, but butter would do the same job, I just prefer the taste of olive oil.

Paint our recipes 'RED'

If we want to lower the risks or prevent heart & cancer diseases then we need to see where to go red.....
Researchers have been busy looking into this on our behalf, they've found that tomatoes are red because they are rich in an antioxidant carotenoid lycopene; a bit of a mouthful I know, its effect is to inactivate free radicals and protect cells from damage (Bhuvanesnari & Nagini 2005, Basu & Imehan 2007).
Because we've been bombarded by health manufacturers we might look for a supplement in this but interestingly (& saving euros) a synergistic effect is seen when lycopene is obtained from the whole tomato - what this means is that, the other components found in tomatoes enhance lycopene's effectiveness (Shi et al 2004).
Often nutrients are damaged or their effectiveness reduced in cooking but not so with this gem, when it is cooked and combined with oil it is more easily absorbed by the body, other foods with lycopene are watermelon, pink grapefruit and papaya (Gorden-Robinson, NDSU 2011).
People who suffer with Rheumatoid Arthritis are an exception and should avoid red fruit and vegetables especially tomatoes (Sen 1996).
I try to put tomatoes into as many recipes as possible even traditional ones that wouldn't normally have them but easily can.