Mince
With a large family to feed, mincemeat is a must as this is cheap meat that is easily stretched.
Until I adjusted my recipe from the traditional mince to my basic recipe, I was using up to 1,5kg of mince per meal.
By adding a can of sugar beans I can get away with maximum 500gm. (see variations at the bottom of the recipe)
This is my basic mince recipe for all mince dishes, it is easy to vary it with other flavours.
Serves 4-5 people
INGREDIENTS
15 ml cooking oil
500 gm lean beef mince
1 onion diced
2 cloves garlic diced
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried parsley
1/2 tsp dried sweet basil
1/2 cup oat bran
1 can chopped tomatoes
1/2 water or stock
Salt and pepper to taste
METHOD
Lightly fry the onions and garlic, until glassy. Remove from the oil and set aside the pan.
In a mixing bowl mix all the ingredients together, adding the onion and garlic.
Return the beef mixture to the frying pan and cook over a medium to high heat until done. About 10-15 minutes.
Serve with any type of pasta, also good with mash potatoes or rice.
VARIATIONS:
To make a sweet mince add 1/2 cup peach chutney.
To make a curried flavour mince add 1-2 tsp Garam Masala to the onions when frying. This is a mild curry, you can adjust the strength of your curry by adding chilli and more Garam masala.
You can substitute the onion with 2 baby marrows (courgettes) finely grated, this is best when giving this to small little children.
Add 1/4 cup finely grated carrots and zucchini to the mince to add more vegetables to the dish.
Need to make it stretch more, add a can of speckled beans mashed up into the mixture.
This not only takes it from serving 4 people to 6 people, but it is a good source of fibre and makes the meal into a healthy option for diabetics as it lowers the GI.