Jamie’s Meat-Free Meals episode 1: Jamie Oliver wants to change how we think about veg, finding inspiration from around the world and cooking amazing veggie dishes.
Jamie cooks a game-changing cottage pie, a mighty mac ‘n’ cheese full of greens, and a brilliantly bonkers chip butty.
Jamie’s Meat-Free Meals episode 1 recipes:
Allotment cottage pie
Method
- In a blender, cover the porcini with 600ml of boiling water. Trim, wash and slice the leeks 2cm thick, then scrub the carrots, swede and celeriac and chop to roughly the same size. Drizzle 2 tablespoons of oil into a large casserole pan on a medium heat, strip in the rosemary, fry for 1 minute to crisp up, then remove to a plate with a slotted spoon. Add the cumin seeds and prepped veg to the flavoured oil, season with sea salt and black pepper, and cook for 30 minutes, stirring regularly.
- Meanwhile, peel and roughly chop the potatoes, cook in a pan of boiling salted water for 15 minutes, or until tender, then drain well. Mash with the butter and milk, and season to taste. Preheat the oven to 190ºC/375ºF/gas 5. Quarter the onion, add to the porcini in the blender along with the Marmite and tomato purée and whiz until smooth. Pour into the veg pan and cook for 20 minutes, or until dark and caramelised, stirring regularly and scraping up any sticky bits from the bottom of the pan.
- Tip the lentils (juices and all) into the veg pan, bring to the boil, then season to taste. Spoon over the mash, place on a tray, bake for 30 minutes, or until lightly golden and bubbling at the edges, then sprinkle over the crispy rosemary.
- Serve with simple steamed seasonal greens – it’s a winner!
Indian-style chip butty
Method
- Scrub the potatoes and sweet potatoes and chop into 2cm chunks, cook in a large pan of boiling salted water for 10 minutes, or until tender, then drain and steam dry. Peel the garlic and ginger, finely chop with the chilli, and place in a large non-stick frying pan over a medium heat with the butter, garam masala and mustard seeds. After 1 minute, tip and mash in the potatoes, then season to perfection with sea salt and black pepper. Keep frying until crispy, then mix up and allow to get crispy again. Divide roughly into 4 (still in the pan), then use 2 spoons to crudely mould and shape into balls, patiently frying and turning until kind of rounded, really golden and crispy all over (trust me, these are amazing!).
- Spoon the mango chutney into a bowl, squeeze in enough pomegranate juice to loosen, then mix together with a handful of the pomegranate seeds. Whiz the mint leaves in a blender with the yoghurt until smooth. Split the rolls open and lightly toast on the inside, and roughly crush the Bombay mix.
- Spoon a dollop of mint yoghurt on to each bun base, top with a hot potato ball, a little mango chutney and Bombay mix, then pop the lid on and squash.
Greens mac ‘n’ cheese – Meat-Free Meals
Method
- Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF/gas 4. Trim, halve and wash the leek and peel the garlic, then finely slice with the broccoli stalks, reserving the florets for later. Place the sliced veg in a large casserole pan over a medium heat with the butter, then strip in the thyme leaves and cook for 15 minutes, or until softened, stirring regularly. Stir in the flour, followed slowly by the milk, then simmer for 10 minutes, or until thickened, stirring regularly. Meanwhile, cook the pasta in a large pan of boiling salted water for 5 minutes, then drain.
- Grate the Parmesan and most of the Cheddar into the sauce, and mix well. Tip into a blender, add the spinach and whiz until smooth – you may need to work in batches. Season to perfection with sea salt and black pepper, then stir through the pasta and broccoli florets, loosening with a splash of milk, if needed. Transfer to a 25cm x 35cm baking dish, grate over the remaining Cheddar and scatter over the almonds. Bake for 30 minutes, or until beautifully golden and bubbling.