Savoury mince on toast is a New Zealand staple dish, especially at cafes, and this old fashioned savoury mince recipe delivers as good as any I tasted in NZ (at our great local cafe The Wadestown Kitchen).
It’s a great family food. Ensuring my daughter has a well-balanced diet has become something of an obsession. This dish covers pretty much everything a growing girl (or boy) needs. It’s also perfect to batch cook and freeze in portions.
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We’ve been lucky (so far!) to not have a fussy eater on our hands, but one of the great things about this dish for those who do is the volume & variety of hidden veg in it. Given this, I also recommend using a food processor on chopping/grating mode if you have one.
To reduce sodium levels, use low salt versions of the beef stock, and soy & Worcestershire sauce, and unsalted butter.
This is for about 8-10 adult servings, or 16-20 kiddie ones. Adults will likely need to add salt to taste.
New Zealand Savoury Mince on Toast Recipe
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Ingredients
- 1kg beef mince
- 50ml Olive Oil
- 1 large swede
- 1 large parsnip
- 4 carrots
- 2 celery sticks
- 2 onions
- 8 cloves garlic
- 1ltr beef stock
- 2 cup warm water
- 50ml Worcestershire sauce
- 50ml dark soy sauce
- 100g tomato paste
- 2 Tbsp flour
- 2 tbsp hot English mustard
- Fresh thyme
- Fresh parsley
- Salt & pepper to taste
- 50g butter (optional)
Method
1. Peel and dice the vegetables into large pieces (the ideal is 1 cm cubes), then peel & crush garlic and finely chop onions.
2. Heat oil in a large saucepan. Add the onion, garlic, and mince, and cook until meat is browned.
3. Add the vegetables in this order: swede, parsnip, carrots, celery. Cook until much of the moisture has evaporated.
4. Add tomato paste, stock and Worcestershire sauce & dark soy to taste.
5. Mix flour with a little water to make a paste, then add to mixture and stir through well, for a rich gravy.
6. If necessary, add some water to just cover the vegetables and mince. Bring to the boil, then simmer until the vegetables are tender and liquid has reduced.
7. With a masher, mash the mince and veg together, to thicken the dish and release the full savoury flavour.
8. Adjust seasoning and add chopped thyme & parsley. Serve a ladle full on hot buttered Vogel’s or similar toast, topped with extra herbs. Potential additional toppings include a poached egg, parmesan shavings and watercress.
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