Cheat's Veggie Cottage Pie with Buttered Spinach

1 - Fry the mince
Tip 4 tbsp of oil into a large frying pan and place it over a high heat.
Once the oil begins to shimmer and loosen, carefully lower in 400g of veggie mince. Fry for 5-6
minutes, breaking up the mince and stirring as you go, until crisp and golden in places. Cut 5 spring
onions into 3, then peel and mince 2 cloves of garlic while you wait.

Timer Instruction: Hey, that's the timer for the mince. It should be golden and crisp in places.

2 - Add the onions and garlic
Once the mince is ready, tip in the onions, garlic and a generous pinch of salt. Fry for a further 3-4
minutes, until softened slightly and very fragrant.

3 - Add the tomato paste
Add 1 tbsp of tomato paste to the pan and fry for a further minute or so, until darkened and sticky.
Preheat the grill to its highest temperature while you wait.

4 - Add the water
Tip in 400ml of water, 1 stock cube and 2 tbsp of soy sauce. Give everything a stir and season to
taste with salt.

5 - Assemble
Lay 500g of gnocchi over the mince so it forms one layer on top, then coarsely grate over 75g of
cheese.

6 - Grill it up
Whack the whole pan under the grill for 6-8 minutes, until the cheese is melted and golden. Get on
with the spinach in the next step while you wait.

Timer Instruction: Hey, that's the timer for the cottage pie. The cheese should be melted, golden
and bubbling.

7 - Cook the spinach
While the cottage pie grills, melt 20g of butter in another large frying pan over a medium-high heat.
Once the butter starts to foam, lower in 200g of spinach - it may look like a lot at this point, but it
will wilt down.

Fry the spinach in the butter for 2-3 minutes, tossing occasionally, until the leaves darken and wilt.
Season to taste with salt and plenty of black pepper.
If you are still waiting for the cottage pie, now would be a great time to crack on with a bit of washing
up!

8 - Serve
Once the cottage pie is ready, take it to the table with the pan of spinach and serve up from there!

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