Curried cottage pie recipe

Joe Wicks’ cooking ethos is all about making things as easy as possible. This curried cottage pie is ideal because you can make a huge batch of it and stick it in the fridge or freezer – ready for those nights you can’t be bothered to cook. “You can do a big portions and save it in the fridge, that’s what I do,” says Wicks.

Ingredients:

(Serves 2)

60g butter
1 leek, finely sliced
2 medium carrots, finely chopped
2 celery sticks, finely chopped
Salt and pepper
1 veggie stock cube
2 fat cloves garlic, finely chopped
Knob of fresh ginger, finely chopped
1 tbsp medium curry powder
2 tsp cumin seeds
2 tbsp tomato puree
1 x 400g tin of green lentils, drained
1 head of cauliflower, cut into small florets
2 handfuls of frozen peas
30g cheddar, grated

Method:
1. Melt 20g butter in a saucepan over a medium heat. Once bubbling, scrape in the chopped leek, carrots and celery along with a pinch of salt. Cook, stirring regularly, for 10 minutes until veg is completely soft.
2. Meanwhile bring a kettle of water to the boil. Put the veggie stock cube into a jug, measure in 150ml of boiling water and whisk with a fork to dissolve.
3. Come back to the saucepan, add the garlic and ginger. Cook for one minute more, sprinkle in the curry powder and cumin seeds, spoon in the tomato puree. Give everything a good mix and cook for two minutes more, then tip in the drained green lentils and the veggie stock.
4. Bring the pie mix to a simmer, turn down the heat to low and leave to gently bubble away while you make the mash.
5. Pour the remaining water from the kettle into a saucepan and re-boil. Salt the water and drop in the cauliflower florets. Cook for 10 minutes until completely tender. Drain into a sieve and leave to steam for a few minutes – this will stop you from having watery mash.
6. Preheat the grill to maximum.
7. Tip the cooked cauliflower into a food processor, add the remaining butter and some seasoning, blitz to a smooth mash. You can also do this with a stick blender.
8. Come back to your pie mix. Add the frozen peas and season to taste. Once the peas have defrosted, spoon the filling into an ovenproof dish. Spread the mash on top, then grate over the cheddar cheese. Slide under the grill for five minutes or until bubbling and golden with a crispy top. My low-carb cottage pie.