Minced beef, ground mince or beef mince, is beef that has been processed through a grinder, or finely chopped with a knife. Fantastically versatile, you can use it in hamburgers, Bolognese, meatballs, koftas and many, many other popular dishes.
In our commitment to you enjoying our meat to the max, we’re sharing 3 minced beef dishes from 3 different corners of the world. Each dish is simple to prepare, quick to cook and should only take between 30-60 minutes.
Harissa Beef and Crispy Potatoes
This quick and easy dish originated from Middle East Africa. It takes its name from the harissa paste, which is made with roasted red peppers and baklouti peppers, pounded into a pulp. To this, spices and herbs are added such as caraway seeds, garlic paste, coriander, cumin and a little olive oil.
If you feel adventurous and have access to all the above, you could make your own paste, but shop bought will be fine.
Ingredients
- 600g rough cut potatoes
- 2 red onions cut into wedges
- 500g lean mince beef
- 400g chopped tomatoes (tinned)
- 4tbsp harissa paste
- 2 tbsp mixed, freshly chopped mint, parsley and coriander
- 100g crumbled feta
Method
- Preheat oven to 200°/180° (fan). Add 2tbsp olive oil to a medium sized, shallow roasting tin. Add the potatoes and onions and roast until golden brown, turning occasionally. (30 mins)
- Add 1tbsp oil to a frying pan, brown the mince off and add the chopped tomatoes and 150ml of cold water. Stir in the harissa paste, season and bring to the boil. Reduce to medium heat and gently simmer for 20 mins. (You can prepare this 2 days before for extra flavour in the mince. Reheat as the potatoes cook).
- Warm the grill to a medium heat, add the beef mix to the potatoes and sprinkle the feta over the top. Grill for 5 minutes.
Serve
Serve as is for a light lunch, starter or a side to a main.
Tex-Mex Enchilada Bake
From Africa, we travel west across the North Atlantic Ocean to North America. Tex-Mex indicates a dish from the state of Texas, which shares a long border with Mexico and therefore takes some influence from the country’s cuisine.
Ingredients
- Olive oil
- 500g lean mince beef
- 2 onions, finely sliced
- 1 ½ tbsp cumin seeds, roughly crushed
- 1-2 tbsp chipotle paste
- 800g chopped tomatoes (trinned)
- 3 medium red peppers, sliced
For baking
- 150g soured cream
- 4 large tortilla wraps
- 1-2 handfuls of grated cheese
Method
- Add a splash of olive oil to a deep frying pan and cook the mince until golden and crisp (you may want to do this in 2 lots). Drain and set to the side. Preheat your oven to 180°/160° (fan).
- Add onions to the pan and cook for 5 minutes, stirring to absorb the left-over juices from the mince.
- Add the cumin and cook for 1 min, add the chipotle, tomatoes and 175ml of water. Stir well, bring to the boil and allow to simmer for 15 minutes.
- Add the mince back in and add the peppers, cook for another 10 mins covered with a lid until the peppers are tender, stir in the peppers and cook for a further 5 minutes without the lid.
- In a deep baking dish, add a quarter of the mince mix to a tortilla and roll. Repeat until the 4 tortillas are side by side. Add a little water to the soured cream and cover the tortillas. Sprinkle the cheese on top and bake for 20 minutes.
Serve with guacamole, tortilla chips and soured cream.
Cottage Pie
Heading north to the UK, this next dish is a staple of British cuisine. The cottage pie is the cousin of the shepherd’s pie. The difference being, the cottage uses beef, the shepherd uses lamb.
Ingredients
- 500g lean mince beef
- 1tbsp olive oil
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 3 carrots, finely chopped
- 100g chestnut mushrooms, sliced
- 300ml beef stock
- 400g chopped tomatoes (tinned)
- 2tbsp Worcestershire sauce
Top
- 4 medium sized potatoes roughly chopped
- 40g cheese
Method
- Heat a frying pan with lid, brown off mince. Drain and set aside.
- Heat oil, fry the onions for 5 minutes, add the carrots and mushrooms and cook for a further 2-3 minutes. Add the mince, tomatoes, beef stock and Worcestershire sauce and cook for 15 minutes.
- Whilst this cooks, preheat the oven to 200°/180° (fan). Boil the potatoes until soft, drain and mash (splash of milk/butter optional).
- Put the mince into an oven dish and cover with the mashed potatoes, add the cheese and bake for 25-30 minutes.
Serve with pickled red cabbage.
We hope you enjoy these dishes. Remember, recipes often serve merely as guidelines. Once you’ve mastered the dish, you can make variations and changes to suit your own palette. If you have a go at any of the dishes, we’d love to see the results so don’t forget to tag us in any pictures on Instagram.
Follow this link to order our lean mince online, and have it delivered in just 2 hours, anywhere in Muscat. You can also visit any of our MLS Gourmet locations, where we offer only the best gourmet meat to buy.