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Comfort food at its best, this easy vegetarian dish has a game-changing cheesy rarebit topping. With chunky veg, hearty beans and fragrant herbs, it'll definitely fill you up. Don't forget to screenshot the handy ingredients list at the bottom ready for your next trip to store.
Place a heavy-based saucepan on a sheet of baking paper and draw around it, then cut out a circle just smaller than the pan so it fits inside. Set aside.
Cook the soffrito. Heat 1 tbsp vegetable oil in the pan over a low heat. Add 1 finely chopped onion, 1 finely chopped carrot and 1 finely chopped celery stick; stir.
Tip: A soffrito is a flavourful mix of diced onion, carrot and celery gently fried in oil. It forms the basis of many dishes, including soups, stews and sauces. Add chopped garlic or herbs for even more flavour, if you like.
Lay the paper circle over the veg, cover and cook for 10 mins or until softened. Remove the lid and paper, increase the heat to medium and stir in 1 tsp tomato purée. Cook for 1 min, stirring, then add 2 tsp plain flour. Mix to combine, then cook for 1 min.
Tip: The circle of baking paper helps to keep the vegetables moist and retain their flavour as they cook. It’s also useful when cooking the base of curries, soups and stews, but you can do without if you don’t have baking paper.
Take ½ a vegetable stock pot and make up to 200ml with hot water. Slowly pour in the stock, stirring all the time. If lumps form, stir until smooth.
Tip in a 400g tin kidney beans (drained and rinsed) and 400g tin adzuki beans or black beans, along with the adzuki or black bean liquid, 1 thyme sprig and 1 tsp yeast extract. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer for 20 mins.
Transfer the mixture to a 1.5ltr pie dish, remove the thyme sprig and set aside to cool. Preheat the oven to gas 5, 190°C, fan 170°C.
Tip: Make sure you heat the flour through before adding the stock, to ensure your sauce doesn’t have a raw flour flavour and help prevent lumps forming.
Boil 1kg peeled and halved potatoes for 15 mins or until tender; drain and mash. Stir in 75ml milk and 25g butter. To make the rarebit topping, put 75g grated cheese and 1 tbsp mustard in a bowl and mash into a paste with a wooden spoon. Mix the mustard in well to give an even flavour. Slowly stir in 75ml of ale or milk. Don’t worry if it’s not smooth as the cheese will melt later. Loosely stir half the rarebit mix into the mash so it is not entirely combined.
Tip: Swap for mild Dijon if making for kids (and replace the ale with extra milk) or use wholegrain mustard for a different texture.
Spoon the mash over the beans in the dish to cover.
Tip: The bean mixture should have formed a thin skin while cooling. Don’t stir it before adding the mash because this helps keep the layers separate while the pie bakes.
Press the potato into the sides of the dish with the back of a spoon to completely cover. Spoon over the remaining rarebit mix, then use the back of the spoon again to swirl in through the mash. Sprinkle with the thyme leaves.
Bake for 30-40 mins until the topping is golden.
We've made a handy shopping list so you can get everything you need to make this comforting dinner. Don't forget to screenshot before you go shopping!
1 tbsp vegetable oil1 onion, finely chopped1 carrot, finely chopped1 celery stick, finely chopped1 tsp tomato purée2 tsp plain flour½ vegetable stock pot, made up to 200ml400g tin kidney beans, drained and rinsed400g tin adzuki or black beans1 thyme sprig, plus 1 tsp leaves1 tsp yeast extract or Marmite1kg King Edward or Désirée potatoes, peeled and halved75ml milk25g butter75g mature Cheddar, grated1 tbsp English mustard75ml ale or milk
Serves 4
of the reference intake Carbohydrate 70.9g Protein 20.8g Fibre 13.6g
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