Latin American shepherd’s pie
400 calories per serving (for 4) 266 calories per serving (for 6)
THIS is a winner. Everyone’s favourite, a good old shepherd’s pie, but with a tasty chilli twist and a sweetcorn topping instead of mashed potatoes. Make this and it won’t just be the pie that’s full of beans. The filling is a delight of spicy loveliness, but there isn’t a lot of topping — we’re keeping the calories down — so use a fairly deep dish so you don’t have to spread the topping too thinly.
SERVES 4–6
• 1 large red onion
• 2 celery sticks
• 1 large carrot
• 1 red pepper and 1 green pepper, deseeded
• 1 tsp vegetable oil
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 tbsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• ½ tsp smoked chilli powder (chipotle)
• 2 tbsp finely chopped coriander stems
• 400g can of kidney beans
• 400g can of butter beans
• 400g can of tomatoes
• 300ml vegetable stock freshly ground black pepper
FOR THE TOPPING:
l 500g sweetcorn kernels l 3 tbsp fine cornmeal (polenta) or plain flour l 1 tsp baking powder l 15g butter l 50g reduced-fat vegetarian Cheddar, grated
FINELY chop the onion and celery sticks and dice the carrot and peppers. Heat the oil in a large pan and add all the vegetables, along with a splash of water. Cover the pan and leave the vegetables to cook gently until soft — this should take about 15 minutes. Add the garlic, spices and chopped coriander stems and then stir to combine. Add all the beans, then pour over the tomatoes and the stock. Season with pepper, then bring everything to the boil. Reduce the heat and leave to simmer until the sauce is well reduced, then tip everything into a deep oven dish. Preheat the oven to 190c/fan 170c/gas 5. To make the topping, put half the sweetcorn kernels in a food processor with the cornmeal or flour, baking powder and butter, then blitz until smooth. Season with plenty of pepper, then add the remaining sweetcorn and blitz again to make a mixture with a rough, dropping consistency. Spread the topping evenly over the filling and sprinkle with the grated cheese. Bake the pie in the oven for 30-40 minutes until the topping is a deep goldenbrown and the filling is piping hot.