Easy Shepherd's Pie with Edgell Plus One Vegetables

*This post is brought to you in collaboration with Edgell.

Shepherd's Pie is one of those wonderful family meals that are simple and hearty. There's no better word than 'hearty' to describe a dish that's so loaded with protein, vegetables and the filling Winter goodness of mashed potatoes to top it off.

Absolutely delicious!

This month I have been collaborating with Edgell behind the scenes here and I am so pleased to announce that I am officially Edgell's Blogger of the Month for May. Yay! Such an honour!

You may have seen some commercials on TV lately for Edgell Plus One? If you're wondering what it's all about, it's a campaign about adding the goodness of an extra serve of vegetables to your diet by simply adding any can of Edgell vegetables to a meal you already make.

I was invited to participate in this challenge myself by adapting some of my own regular bakes and I will be featuring my Edgell creations here over the next week or so.

Naturally, Shepherd's Pie was one of the first things I considered trying out the Plus One method on. I've got to say it was a great success too! Just one extra tin of Edgell, made a huge difference to the flavour and bulk of my otherwise regular recipe. (I used Edgell's Peas, Corn and Carrots in this recipe as their Mixed Vegetables were not available at my supermarket but feel free to try either.) Similarly, use any meat you prefer. Lamb is traditional but I don't eat it, so beef is what features in this recipe.

This is a tasty and child-friendly dinner and I will definitely be making my new improved Edgell version over the old from here on.

Easy Shepherd's Pie with Edgell Vegetables

500gm lean minced beef
125gm tomato paste
1 tin of diced, peeled tomatoes (drain a little of the excess juice)
420gm tin of Edgell Mixed Vegetables drained and rinsed
1 small red pepper diced
1 zucchini, diced
I small onion chopped
5-6 medium potatoes, peeled (choose a good mashing variety as these will form the topping on your pie)
2 tablespoons sweet chilli sauce
2 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce
Salt and pepper to taste
Milk and margarine or butter to taste (for mashed potato)
Tasty cheese and sweet paprika to top the mashed potato 'lid'.'

Add peeled, roughly chopped potatoes to a large pot with enough water to cover and a pinch of salt and bring to the boil. When cooked through, drain water and mash the potatoes to a smooth consistency with some salt and pepper and a little milk and butter. Cover and set aside.

Brown the beef (or your preferred meat choice) and soften the onion together in a splash of olive oil and drain off the excess liquid.

Add the fresh vegetables, (red pepper and zucchini) and heat for a minute or two to soften.

Add the loosely drained diced tomatoes and tomato paste, sweet chilli sauce and Worcestershire sauce to the meat and mix well.

Add the Edgell Mixed Vegetables - your Plus One serve and mix and heat gently for around 2 minutes.

Pour the meat and vegetable mix into an ovenproof dish and pat down gently before topping with the mashed potatoes, a generous sprinkling of tasty cheese and paprika to decorate. A splash of dried or fresh parsley goes very well too.

When ready to serve, bake in the oven at 190 degrees C for around 20 minutes until sufficiently heated through and the cheese is golden. If you're eating it straight away, you need only brown the top under a grill.

 

Serve with whatever your prefer: Salad, fries or a side of extra vegetables.

 

Being Blogger of the Month with Edgell, means that this recipe was sent along to Edgell's test kitchen where it was baked and professionally photographed for inclusion on their site.

Please pop on over to the Edgell Plus One website to see my recipe for Easy Shepherd's Pie and discover some other great food ideas for your family while you're there.

Check back too, as there's a series of my recipes to be published on both sites.

*Disclosure: Six Little Hearts received a voucher in exchange for this feature.
All opinions expressed are those of this blog's Author.

Recent posts on Six Little Hearts you may have missed:

Charmazing by Style Me Up! Review and Giveaway - Featured Thursdays

Boredom Busters for Kids

Finlee and Me Toy Review and Giveaway

An A-Z of Mothering for Mums

Cadbury Drinking Chocolate Flourless Fudge Cake