Hello everybody, and happy new year!
After a couple of weeks of chilling out with my family and friends, I’m back and ready to bring you lots of gorgeous things in 2025.
January brings with it the inevitable snooze-fest of “new year, new me!” - resolutions that cut out snacks, cheese, and along with them, any hopes of feeling joy in the opening weeks of 2025. Look, this time of year is hard, and I’m not about to make it harder for myself (or for you) by being a proponent of toxic diet culture.
For me, trying to be a bit healthier does not mean cutting things out. I would much rather add good stuff in, in the form of vegetables, protein or fibre. Potatoes and butter will remain on my plate to nourish my soul, but you will also find lots of the stuff that nourishes my body.
With this in mind, this week brings an indulgent but still veg-packed recipe, in the form of a keema cottage pie.
Enjoy!
Sophie x
P.S. I’m very excited to let you guys know first that I’m going to be on the telly on Monday night, in the new Jamie’s £1 Wonders & Money-Saving Meals series. I cannot tell you how delighted I was to be asked to be a guest on the episode, where I cook up a puttanesca lasagne. A real pinch me moment, and one that wouldn’t have been possible without all the support from you all, so thank you from the bottom of my heart. It will air on Channel 4 at 8pm on January 6th if you fancy tuning in.
The Recipe
Keema Cottage Pie
I know some people think cottage pie is a rubbish meal, but I could not disagree more. When the textures are right (the base = saucy; the mash = silky in the middle, crisp on top), there aren’t many more comforting dinners for this time of year.
To pack in a bit of extra veg and oomph of flavour, this is a keema cottage pie. Keema is a curry loaded up with mince, spices and most important of all, peas. It’s not too hot, but warming spices like cinnamon and cumin bring a nice little hum to the proceedings.
The ingredients list may look long, but it’s almost certainly packed with lots of things already in your kitchen (I am guilty of having not one, not two, but three bags of peas in my freezer at the last count), so hopefully it’s only a couple of fresh things that you need to pop out to buy.
My husband has always loved eating cottage pie with a good dollop of lime pickle, and it would work especially well here.
Serves 8