Don’t mince your words!

In a recent foodie fight in the Guardian newspaper, British chefs claimed that the good old mince-on-toast recipe was not a British invention, but instead it belonged to New Zealand. So in honour of the latest dish to join the pavlova, I’m sharing a lovely old recipe I found for this quintessential Kiwi dish. It’s perfect for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

PROPER MINCE ON TOAST

1 tbsp olive oil

1 onion, finely chopped

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

500g beef mince

1 carrot, peeled and diced

1 parsnip, peeled and diced*

2 sticks celery, finely chopped

500ml beef stock**

1 bay leaf

2-3 sprigs of thyme

2 tbsp tomato paste

1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp mustard

2 tsp cornflour, to thicken

Salt and pepper, to taste

1 Heat the oil in a large pot, then sauté the onion and garlic until clear. Add the mince and brown.

2 Add the carrot, parsnip and celery, cooking until the vegetables are soft.

3 Add the beef stock, then the bay leaf, thyme, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce and mustard.

4 Bring to the boil, then place the lid on and simmer for 20 minutes.

5 Just before serving, thicken with cornflour mixed with a little cold water to a paste and stirred through. Make sure this is nice and thick as runny mince will make the toast soggy. Add more cornflour if necessary. Add salt and pepper, then serve on hot, buttered toast. Vogel’s is a perfect bread to go with this. * Do not be tempted to leave out the parsnip – it provides a wonderful flavour.

** Instead of powdered beef stock, try the new stock gels – the flavour is better and they don’t contain as many additives as the powders.