#KitchenClearout recipe : Mince & Potatoes Freestyle !

Sometimes, I defrost a pack of mince for dinner without really knowing what it will turn into - spaghetti bolognese, chilli con carne, cottage pie, lasagne, ... They all start with the same basic recipe. Well, this time, I decided to just throw in everything (within reason !) in the fridge that needed using up and see how it turned out ! Pierre declared it was the tastiest meal ever and could he have it again? Not bad coming from someone who usually complains that it would have been better without the vegetables ! I'll give you the recipe I used as a guideline, but this is just a way of using up whatever's in the fridge so feel free to adapt.

Mince & Potatoes Freestyle !

ingredients :

drizzle of olive oil

a pack of beef mince

2 onions

2 potatoes

2 carrots

3 mushrooms

salt, pepper, garlic granules

leftover gravy or a beef stock cube

any leftover cooked veg

a pouch of rice

Dice a couple of onions and potatoes and start frying them in the olive oil. There's nothing worse than crunchy undercooked potatoes so I gave them a 5-minute head start.

Dice the carrots and mushrooms and throw them in the pot. Cook for a further five minutes.

Add the mince to the pan and break it up with a fork or a wooden spoon while it cooks. Add in any other leftover cooked veg you may have in the fridge. Season with salt, pepper and garlic granules and add some beef stock or gravy. (I had some leftover gravy from Sunday lunch.)

While this was cooking, I had a rummage in the cupboard and came across a pouch of bulgur, quinoa and riso rosso - it had come in a Degustabox and nobody was keen on eating quinoa, so I decided this would be a great way of using it up.

In the pot it went ! Cook until the stock/gravy has reduced enough then serve.

Perfect as a fuss-free midweek meal when you haven't got the time or energy to cook anything fancy.

Adding to this month's #KitchenClearout linky as it used up lots of odds and ends.