Preparation Time
50 minutes
Serves
4-6
Nutrition
N/A
Puree
Blend together the shepherd’s pie filling and topping, adding as much liquid (water or your baby’s milk) as needed to achieve the desired consistency.
Finger Food
Mix some of the mash and meat together and place dollop on a spoon to let your toddler feed himself.
Ingredients
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1 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
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1 onion, finely diced
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1 carrot, finely diced
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2 garlic cloves, crushed
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500g minced (ground) lamb
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2 tbsp tomato paste (concentrated purée)
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400g tin chopped tomatoes or 500g fresh tomatoes, chopped
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2 courgettes, finely diced
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2 tbsp chopped flat-leaf (Italian) parsley
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400g pumpkin (winter squash), peeled, seeded and diced
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400g parsnip, peeled and diced
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30g butter
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50g grated cheddar cheese
The parsnip and pumpkin topping on this pie offers more vegetable variety than conventional potato topping, plus it helps your children become accustomed to seeing a variety of colours on their plate
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Preheat the oven to 180ºC.
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Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion, carrot and garlic and cook for 5 minutes, stirring until softened.
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Add the lamb and cook for 5 minutes, stirring with a wooden spoon to break up any lumps, until the lamb has browned all over.
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Stir in the tomato paste, tomatoes and 190ml water. Simmer for 10 minutes, or until the sauce has thickened.
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Stir in the courgette and parsley.
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Meanwhile, steam or boil the pumpkin and parsnip for 10–15 minutes, or until tender. Drain and return to the pan. Mash (or blend using a stick blender) until smooth, then stir through the butter.
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Spoon the beef mixture into a 2 litre ovenproof dish (or use two dishes or six smaller ramekins). Top with the pumpkin and parsnip mixture.
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Sprinkle over the cheese and drizzle over a little oil. Bake the pie in the oven for 25 minutes, or until the top is lightly browned.
**Recipe taken from Something for Everyone by Louise Fulton Keats (Hardie Grant, £20) Photography: Ben Dearnley
**