Weight Watchers cottage pie recipe

This Weight Watchers cottage pie is easy to make and the whole family will enjoy tucking into it.

Cooking for the whole family can be tricking if you're trying to lose weight, but this warm and comforting cottage pie doesn't feel like a slimmer's dinner. It takes less than an hour to cook from scratch and feeds four. Don't worry if there's only two of you eating however, it tastes just as good on the second day. Maybe even better in fact, as the flavours have time to really develop. If you want to batch cook, try making double the portions and freezing one whole pie for another day. Defrost in the fridge the day before you want to cook it.

Ingredients

• 1kg potatoes, peeled and chopped roughly
• 1 leek, sliced
• 500g extra lean beef mince
• 1 onion, chopped finely
• 175g carrots, peeled and diced
• 150g mushrooms, chopped
• 300ml beef stock
• 2 tbsp tomato puree
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 50g low-fat soft cheese
• 4 tbsp skimmed milk
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/Gas Mark 6. Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil, add the potatoes and simmer for 15 minutes or until tender. Add the leek for the last 2 minutes of the cooking time.
2. Meanwhile, place a large, lidded, non stick pan over a medium heat, add the beef and onion and brown for 5 minutes, stirring to break up the mince.
3. Mix in the carrots and mushrooms, followed by the stock, tomato puree and Worcestershire sauce. Season, bring to a simmer and cook, covered, for 15 minutes before pouring into an ovenproof dish.
4. Drain the potatoes and leeks and mash with the soft cheese and milk. Season, spoon on top of the mince and spread out evenly.
5. Bake the cottage pie on a baking tray for 20 minutes or until the topping is crisp and golden.

Top tip for making Weight Watchers cottage pie

Swap the minced beef for extra lean minced pork, lamb or turkey to make a change. To keep the cost down, replace half the mashed potato with mashed carrots in the topping.

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