Lambs liver cottage pie’s a super food

THERE’S no getting away from it, although certainly not everyone’s cup of tea,

Liver is probably the number one super food.

To benefit from the multitude of vitamins and to disguise the harsh taste and texture, I grate the liver part-cooked and always serve with large glasses of fresh orange to aid iron absorption.

Ingredients: 500g lambs liver 2 red onions 50g butter 2tbsp olive oil 1 garlic clove, finely chopped 2tbsp red wine vinegar 2tbsp wholemeal flour 1 beef stock cube 300ml vegetable stock 1kg potatoes suitable for mashing

1 small cauliflower, cut into small florets 50g butter 100ml milk – cow’s or soya

50g grated cheese

Method: Peel, cut and boil the potatoes.

When almost soft, add the cauliflower florets and cook to soften before mashing together with the butter and milk, keep warm and set aside.

Meanwhile slice and chop the onions, place in a frying pan and very gently sauté in the olive oil with half of the butter over a very low heat, when slightly caramelised remove and set aside.

Melt the remaining half butter in the pan and add the chopped garlic and liver, browning for one minute on each side.

Remove from the heat and grate, or finely chop, each piece of liver back into the pan.

Add the caramelised onions with red wine vinegar and return to the heat for one minute.

Crumble in the stock cube and stir in the flour, mix together.

After one minute gradually stir in the vegetable stock and simmer for a few minutes.

Add the mixture to a casserole dish and top with the mash and grated cheese.

When ready to serve, finish in the oven for 20-25 minutes.

Serve with fresh orange juice to absorb all those vitamins and nutrients!

● Lesley is studying nutrition & health at Edge Hill University and co-owns Roberto’s Italian on Southport’s Ocean Plaza.

For more of her recipes go to: Twitter @ LYatesNutrition or Facebook.com/ robertossouthport and www.robertositalian. co.uk

Why liver? It’s rich in just about everything – vitamins A, B’s, K, high in protein, low in fat and of course full of iron – important for creating haemoglobin allowing blood to provide oxygen to the muscles – perfect if you’re training for the next 10K!