Spicy Mince with Veggies and Brown Rice

This is a great weeknight dinner and super nutritious.  It reminds me a bit of chilli con carne.  In fact that's exactly what I tell my kids it is because chilli con carne is their latest obsession and if I say those words, they are sure to eat it!  We especially love it with brown rice - just ensure you've soaked the brown rice for a few hours prior to cooking to aid with digestibility... soaking also lessens the cooking time of the rice! 

Ingredients (serves 4):
- 1 onion
- 1 clove garlic
- 2 tbsp cooking fat (I used duck fat)
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp paprika
- 500g beef mince (grassfed if possible)
- Assorted diced veggies - I used 1 carrot, 1/2 cup fresh corn kernels, 1/2 cup soaked chickpeas, 1/2 cup diced red cabbage
- 100g tomato puree
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 1/2 cup water or stock (I used chicken bone broth)
- 1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
- Sea salt and black pepper to taste

- To serve - brown rice, soaked for a few hours and then cooked as per packet directions (I used about 300g) and also some sliced avocado

Method:
1.  Cook diced onion, garlic and cooking fat on medium heat until softened.  Add spices and cook, stirring until fragrant.

(Thermomix: add halved onion and garlic clove.  Chop 5sec/sp5.  Add cooking fat and cook 2min/100deg/sp1.  Add spices and cook 1min/100deg/sp1)

2.  Add mince and cook, stirring, until browned.

(Thermomix: add mince and cook 3min/100deg/rev+sp1)

3.  Add remaining ingredients except parsley and bring to the boil.  Turn down the heat to simmer for 10 minutes, stirring often.   Stir through parsley.

(Thermomix: add remaining ingredients except parsley and cook 10min/100deg/rev+sp1.  Stir through parsley)

4.  Meanwhile, cook brown rice as per packet directions.  I cooked mine in the Thermomix - fill the bowl to 1L mark, put soaked and rinsed brown rice into the rice basket and cook 30min/Varoma/sp4.

Beef & Vegetable Pies

Well it's still footy finals time and hubby has once again requested some "dude food".  I went through our deep freeze and found some osso bucco in there which I thought would be a great cut to slow cook some pie filling.  There's something pretty satisfying about making your own pies!  Hope you enjoy this recipe. 

Ingredients (makes 6):
(You will need 6 pie pans or you could use a Texas muffin pan)
- 800g of beef suitable for slow cooking (I used about 1.5kg of grassfed osso bucco and took out the bones after the filling was cooked)
- 1 cup homemade chicken stock OR 1 cup Campbell's liquid veggie stock OR 1 cup water + 1tbsp Thermomix veggie stock concentrate
- 2 cups water
- 400g can diced tomatoes (or fresh)
- 100g sliced mushrooms
- 1/2 carrot, diced
- 1/2 zucchini, diced
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- Optional - 1/2 chipotle chilli, sliced (this adds a lovely smokey flavour)
- Sea salt, pepper and Herbamare to taste
- Pampas butter puff pastry sheets (I used 4 sheets, having to do some patchwork to create the lids to 2 of the pies!)

Method:
1.  Combine in a slow cooker (or casserole dish, though if doing this then preheat your oven to 150 degrees) all the ingrediens (except puff pastry of course!) and cook on low setting for 6 hours, stirring every now and then.  Or if using oven, cook for 3 hours, stirring every now and then.

2.  Allow the meat mixture to cool right down.

3.  Preheat oven to 200 degrees and grease your pie pans.

4.  Line the base of each pie pan (to do this, I used 3 pastry sheets, cutting each one diagonally in half and then trimming off any excess pastry).  Fill each pan with the filling, ensuring you don't put in too much liquid.  Seal each pie with a pastry lid (I cut the remaining pastry sheet into 4 squares and then for the remaining 2 lids, I patched together the excess pastry leftover from lining the bases), trim off excess pastry.  I also used a fork to press right around the edges of each pie to seal.  Then I also used the fork to prick a couple of vents in the top of each pie.

5.  Pop the pies into baking trays and bake for around 20 minutes or until the pastry looks nice and golden on top.  We served these pies with organic tomato sauce and salad on the side.

Mexican Potato Salad

Back before we went additive free, we used to buy those supermarket packets of taco seasoning, salsa and the tortillas, all full of additives and pretty much completely void of any nutritional value!  Now I couldn't think of anything worse.   Over time I have learned to make different substitutes without the nasties and with a little bit of planning and really not that much more preparation time, it is so easy.  I got the inspiration for this slow-cooked beef from my mother in law.  Somehow my beef still didn't turn out quite as good as hers but it is still pretty awesome! 

Ingredients (serves 6):
- 1/2 sweet potato, cut into chunks
- 3 white potatoes, cut into chunks

Beef:
- 1kg diced beef (I used grassfed chuck steak - you want something that is good for slow cooking)
- 1 onion, sliced
- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 400g tinned tomatoes or equivalent fresh diced tomatoes
- 2 cups water or stock (I used 2 cups of beef bone broth)
- Optional veggies (cos I love putting veggies in everything!) -  I used 1 diced carrot and 100g sliced mushrooms
- 1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- Spices - 2 tsp salt (I used celtic), sprinkle of cracked pepper, 2 tsp paprika, 2 tsp ground cumin, 2 tsp ground coriander, 2 tsp onion powder

Other sides:
- Shredded lettuce
- Guacamole (I just mashed a couple of avocadoes, squeezed lemon juice and seasoned with sea salt and pepper)
- Fresh tomato salsa (I used 3 diced tomatoes, 1 tbsp finely chopped onion, sprinkle of fresh chopped parsley and a splosh of extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar and seasoned with sea salt and cracked pepper)
- If you are OK with dairy, also grated cheese and sour cream

Method:
1.  If you have a slow cooker, put all your beef ingredients into it, give it a stir and cook on "low" setting for 8 hours, stirring every now and then.

If you don't have a slow cooker, preheat your oven to 150 degrees and add all the beef ingredients to a casserole dish.  Stir, cover and put into the oven for around 3 hours, stirring every now and then.

At the end of the cooking time, the beef should be falling apart and you can easily shred it with 2 forks.

2.  While the beef is cooking, prepare your sides and boil the potatoes until tender.

3.  Serve!

Cottage Pie

So after my recent holiday in southeast Queensland, the kids and I sure got a big chill when we stepped off the plane as we arrived back in Perth last week!  Having lived in Perth for 6 months now, I am still surprised by how cold it can get.  So I think the cold weather is the perfect opportunity to make some really warming winter food such as this cottage pie!

Ingredients (serves 6-8):
1 onion
2 garlic cloves
2 tbsp cooking fat
500g beef mince (preferably organic and grassfed)
1.5 cups diced veggies (I used carrot, capsicum, green beans and some frozen peas)
300g tomato puree
4 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
Sea salt and pepper

Topping:
Boiled veggies (I used white potatoes, sweet potato and pumpkin), drained and mashed with some butter, milk of choice (I used Bonsoy) and seasoned with sea salt and pepper
100g cheese, grated (I crumbled some sheep's milk feta)

Method:
1.  Into a saucepan on medium heat, add diced onion, crushed garlic and cooking fat.  Cook, stirring, for a couple of minutes until softened.

(Thermomix - add halved onion and garlic cloves.  Chop 2sec/sp7, add cooking fat and cook 2min/100deg/sp1)

2.    Add the mince and cook, stirring, until browned.

(Thermomix - add mince and cook 3min/100deg/rev+sp1)

3.  Add remaining ingredients, bring to the boil and then reduce heat to simmer for around 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.


(Thermomix - add remaining ingredients and cook 15min/100deg/rev+sp1)

4.  Preheat the oven to 180 degrees while you assemble the pie.  Pour the meat sauce into the base of a large rectangular baking dish. Top with mashed veggies and then sprinkle with grated/crumbled cheese.


5.  Bake the pie for around 20 minutes or until golden on top.  Serve with a salad on the side.

Beef & Vegetable Casserole

It is getting really cold in Perth now that winter has officially started!  So we are having lots of soups and casseroles full of seasonal veggies.  This one was made in the slow cooker (my latest obsession) which I cooked for around 8 hours.  If you don't have a slow cooker, you could easily bake this in the oven, but you need to make sure you allow around 3 hours cooking time.

Ingredients (serves 6-8):
1kg gravy beef, diced
400g can diced tomatoes
1 cup beef broth (I made this as per the recipe in Sally Fallon's "Nourishing Traditions")
OR 1 cup Campbell's vegetable stock
OR 1 cup water + 1 tsp TM vegetable stock concentrate
1/2 cup preservative-free red wine (I used Settlers Ridge brand)
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried basil
Sea salt, pepper and Herbamare to taste
Assorted diced veggies - I used 1 carrot, 4 small potatoes, 1 onion, 2 garlic cloves, a few green beans, a couple of handfuls of mushrooms and a cup of pumpkin.

Method:
1.  Into the slow cooker or baking dish, add the tomatoes, broth/stock, wine, tomato paste, vinegar, oregano, basil and seasonings.  Stir to combine.

2.  Add remaining ingredients and stir to coat in the sauce.  If baking, cover the dish with a lid or alfoil.

3.  Cook for 8 hours on "low" setting in the slow cooker, or for 3 hours in an oven preheated to 150 degrees.  Stir every now and then.

4.  Serve with some bread (if you can have some!), otherwise this really is a complete meal on its own!

Mini Meatballs

This is a great lunchbox food for the kids or a quick weeknight dinner to have with salad!  These would also make a great party food.

Ingredients:
500g beef mince
1/2 onion
1 garlic clove
1/2 cup pumpkin
1/2 carrot
1/2 cup broccoli florets
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp chopped fresh herbs
1 free range egg
1 tsp onion powder 
Sea salt, pepper to taste

Method:
1.  Preheat oven to 180 degrees and line a baking tray with baking paper.

2.  Process onion, garlic, pumpkin, carrot and broccoli in a food processor (or 5sec/sp7 in Thermomix) until finely chopped.  Tip into a large bowl.

3.  Add remaining ingredients to the chopped veggies and mix with your hands until combined.

4.  Shape the mixture into meatballs and bake for around 20 minutes or until lightly browned and cooked through.

Slow Cooked Pepper & Red Wine Roast Beef

I recently bought a slow cooker, mainly for the purpose of making bone broths.  Though as I found out, you can also make really lovely "roasts" in it.  The beef just falls apart.  Below is the recipe we used to make dinner last night.  We had this with some roast potato, pumpkin, beetroot and carrot, as well as steamed green beans and broccoli.   

Ingredients:
1-2kg beef roast (I used a 1.3kg grassfed topside roast)
1 cup water
1 cup preservative free red wine (I used Settlers Ridge brand)
1 onion, peeled and coarsely chopped
2 garlic cloves, peeled
A few whole peppercorns
Sprinkle of Herbamare

Gravy:
Juices from roasting dish/slow cooker
2 tbsp gluten-free cornflour
Splash of tamari sauce

Method:
1.  Into a slow cooker, add the meat, water, wine, onion, garlic, peppercorns and Herbamare.  Cook on "low" setting for around 8 hours, turning the meat over a couple of times if possible.  If you don't have a slow cooker, you can do this in an oven - just preheat the oven to 150 degrees and add your ingredients to a roasting dish, cover with alfoil and cook for 2.5-3 hours.

2.  If having with roast veggies, pop these into the oven at the appropriate time. 

3.  Once the roast is done, set it aside to rest while you make the gravy.  Add the juices from the roasting dish or slow cooker to a small pot.  Whisk on a low heat as you add in the cornflour mixed in with some water, and also add the tamari.  Whisk for a couple of minutes or until thickened.

(To make gravy in Thermomix, add the pan juices with the garlic and onion bits, add cornflour and tamari and cook for around 3-4 minutes/100deg/sp5 or until thickened slightly).

Mini Pizzas

My kids just LOVE mini pizzas for dinner.  And the best bit for me is all the veggies I can add to the topping!  These are quick and easy to make on a weeknight and there are always some leftover for snacking on later.

Ingredients (makes 27):
3 sheets Pampas butter puff pastry
50g parmesan cheese
1 onion
1 garlic clove
1 carrot, peeled
1/2 cup broccoli florets
1/2 cup pumpkin
1 tbsp duck fat (or other cooking fat)
500g beef mince
3 tbsp tomato paste
200g tomato puree
1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
Herbamare, sea salt and pepper to taste

Method:
1.  Grate the cheese (10sec/sp9 in Thermomix).  Set aside.

2.  Into a saucepan on medium heat, add cooking fat, diced onion and minced garlic.  Cook, stirring, until softened.

(In Thermomix, add halved onion and garlic.  Chop 5sec/sp5.  Cook 2min/100deg/sp1)

3.  Process carrot, pumpkin and broccoli until finely chopped.  Add to the pot, along with mince and cook, stirring, until the mince is browned. 

(In Thermomix, add pumpkin, broccoli and carrot.  Chop 5sec/sp7.  Add mince and cook 3min/100deg/rev+sp1).

4.  Add tomato paste, tomato puree, parsley and seasonings.  Cook, stirring, for around 10 minutes.

(In Thermomix, add tomato paste, tomato puree, parsley and seasonings and cook 10min/100deg/rev+sp1)

5.  Preheat oven to 200 degrees.  Line 2 baking trays with baking paper (I had to bake in 2 batches).  Cut each pastry sheet into 9 squares.  Top each pastry square with some mince mixture and then sprinkle with grated cheese.  Bake for around 10 minutes or until the pastry is puffed up and golden.  
 

Honey Soy Beef Stirfry

Each week we get delivered a fruit and veggie box full of the freshest, local, seasonal, organic produce.  I love it.  So there is always an abundance of veggies in our veggie crisper.  Right now there seems to be more than usual, so we thought a stirfry would be a great way to use up tonnes of veggies for dinner! 

Ingredients (serves 4):

500g beef steak (I used free range minute steaks)

1-2 chillis, deseeded, sliced 

Thumb of ginger, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, crushed

2 tbsp pure honey

1/4 cup tamari sauce (this is a gluten free soy sauce)

1/4 cup sesame oil

Sliced veggies - I used 1/2 onion, 1 cup mushrooms, 1 cup broccoli florets, 1 cup bok choy, 1 carrot, 1/2 zucchini, 1 cup cabbage

1/2 cup water

To serve - rice or noodles (I used Slim Noodles for a grain-free dinner)

Method:

1.  Marinate the steak: into a large ziplock bag, pop in the steak fillets, chilli, ginger, garlic, honey, tamari and sesame oil.  Close up the bag, getting as much air out as you can.  Put into the fridge to marinate for a few hours or overnight, turning the ziplock bag over a few times during the marinating process.

2.  When ready to cook, slice up the steak, reserving the marinade for cooking.

3.  Heat a wok or frypan until very hot.  Add some cooking fat and add the onion.  Cook for around 30 seconds, stirring, until onions are just starting to soften.

4.  Add the sliced steak and cook, stirring, for around a minute or until the steak is just sealed on the outside.

5.  Add the hard veggies, marinade and water.  Cook, stirring, for another minute or so, then add the soft veggies and cook for another 30 seconds or so.  

6.  Serve with rice or noodles - I used Slim Noodles to make this a grain-free stirfry.  I strained the Slim Noodles out of the packet, rinsed them and then added into the frypan, straight into the stirfry, stirring for around 1 minute.

Beef, Mushroom & Red Wine Pot Pies

A friend recently reminded me of these pies that I had cooked for her, years and years ago when we lived in the sticks of central Queensland!  So of course I thought this would be a great recipe to blog - thanks for reminding me Carly!

Ingredients (makes 4 pies):
You will need 4 large ramekins (each approx 1 cup capacity)
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
1 tbsp duck fat (or other cooking fat)
1/2 zucchini, peeled, grated
1/2 green capsicum, deseeded, diced
500g beef mince
200g mushrooms, sliced
3 tbsp tomato paste
1 cup preservative-free red wine (I used Settlers Ridge)
1/2 cup water
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp Herbamare
1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
Sea salt and pepper to taste
2 tbsp cornflour (gluten-free) if required to thicken sauce
1 sheet Pampas butter puff pastry

Method:
1.   Into a pot on medium heat, add the diced onion, minced garlic and cooking fat.  Cook, stirring, until the onion has softened.

(In Thermomix - add halved onion and garlic cloves.  Chop 5sec/sp5.  Add cooking fat.  Cook 2min/100deg/sp1)

2.  Add zucchini, capsicum and beef mince.  Cook, stirring, until mince is browned.


(In Thermomix - add zucchini, capsicum.  Chop 5sec/sp5.  Add mince.  Cook 3min/100deg/rev+sp1)

3.  Add wine, water, tomato paste, mushrooms, vinegar, parsley, Herbamare and salt and pepper.  Bring to the boil, then reduce heat and simmer for around 20 minutes, stirring every now and then.  If you would like to thicken the sauce a bit, add some cornflour mixed until smooth with some water and simmer for a few more minutes.

(In Thermomix, add wine, water, tomato paste, mushrooms, vinegar and parsley.  Cook 20min/100deg/rev+sp1. If a thicker consistency is required, mix cornflour with a small amount of water until smooth, add to the Thermie and cook for another couple of minutes)

4.  Preheat oven to  200 degrees.  Place the ramekins onto a large baking tray.  Almost fill the ramekins with the meat mixture, to approximately 2cm from the top.  Cut the pastry sheet into 4 squares and cut a small slit (for the steam to vent through as the pies cook) in the middle of each pastry square.  Press the pastry firmly onto each ramekin.  Trim excess pastry if you like, but I like to leave the excess pastry on. 

5.  Bake for around 20 minutes or until the pastry is golden and cooked through.  I served these pies with veggie mash and steamed veggies.

Mini Sausage Rolls

My kids just love sausage rolls.  It's been a while since I have made them so I decided I would treat the kids tonight for dinner and make these sausage rolls.  As usual, I get whatever veggies I can into them!  If you didn't want to make sausage rolls, you could just make the mince mixture and roll into meatballs.  As it was, I did have some leftover mince mixture that I did just that with!

Ingredients (makes 24):
3 sheets Pampas butter puff pastry
1 slice spelt bread
1 carrot, peeled
1/2 zucchini, peeled
1/2 capsicum
Handful of mushrooms
1 onion, peeled
1 clove garlic
500g beef mince
1 free range egg
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp sesame seeds
1 tbsp fresh parsley and basil
Sea salt, pepper and Herbamare
Optional - 1 tbsp Superfoods for Kidz Vital Veggie Power
1 extra egg, for eggwash

Method:
1.  Preheat oven to 180 degrees and line 2 baking trays with baking paper.  Take the puff pastry out of the freezer, separate the 3 sheets and allow to thaw on the kitchen bench while you make the sausage roll filling.

2.  In Thermomix or food processor, process the bread for a few seconds until it is a breadcrumb consistency (5sec/sp6 in Thermomix).  Tip into a large bowl.

3.  In Thermomix or food processor, process the veggies and herbs until finely chopped (5sec/sp6 in Theromix).  Add to breadcrumbs.

4.  Add the remaining ingredients to bowl and mix with your hands until well combined.

5.  Cut each pastry sheet in half.  Divide the mince mixture into 6 equal portions and place each portion along one long side of each pastry piece (there will be a pretty generous amount of mince mixture - just make sure you don't use too much as you want to be able to roll your pastry up without any trouble!).  Roll up the pastry and cut each roll into 4 pieces.  Place on baking trays and brush with eggwash.

6.  Bake for approximately 20 minutes or until cooked through and pastry is golden.  Serve with an additive-free tomato sauce (I make my own tomato sauce using the recipe from the Thermomix Everyday Cooking cookbook).

Savoury Mince with Veggie Mash

Apart from chocolate, this is my other kind of comfort food.  And you can use whatever veggies you have in the fridge to add to the mince.  Now the weather is (slowly) starting to get cooler in Perth, I will be cooking this one a bit more often!  This dish doesn't look so pretty, but it tastes great and is very satisfying.  

Ingredients (serves 4-6)
1 onion
2 garlic cloves
1 red chilli, deseeded
1 tbsp duck fat (or other cooking fat)
500g beef mince
400g can tomatoes
200ml water
2 handfuls sliced mushrooms
1 cup shredded cabbage
1 cup broccoli florets
1 carrot, diced
1/2 zucchini, diced
1/2 capsicum, diced
1 tsp Herbamare
1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
Lemon juice, sea salt and pepper to taste

Veggie mash:
2 potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
1/2 sweet potato, peeled and cut into chunks
150g pumpkin, peeled and cut into chunks
1 tbsp butter
1/2 cup milk of choice (I used Bonsoy)
Sea salt and pepper to taste

Method:
1.  Make veggie mash: pop the veggies into a pot and cover with water.  Bring to the boil, reduce heat and simmer until veggies are cooked through.  Strain out the water, add the butter, milk and salt and pepper.  Mash. 

2.  While the mash veggies are cooking, heat a saucepan on medium heat, melt the cooking fat and add the diced onion, garlic and chilli.  Cook for a few minutes or until softened.

(In Thermomix, add halved onion, garlic and chilli.  Chop 5sec/sp5.  Add cooking fat and cook 2min/100deg/sp1)

3.  Add the beef mince and cook, stirring, until browned.


(In Thermomix, add the beef mince and cook 3min/100deg/rev+speed soft)

4.  Add tinned tomatoes, water, diced vegetables and Herbamare.  Reduce heat to simmer and cook, stirring, for around 10 minutes.


(In Thermomix, add tinned tomatoes, water, diced vegetables and Herbamare.  Cook 10min/100deg/rev+sp1)

5.  Add lemon juice, parsley, salt and pepper.  Cook, stirring for a few more minutes.  Adjust seasonings if necessary.

(In Thermomix, add lemon juice, parsley, salt and pepper.  Cook 3min/100deg/rev+sp1.  Adjust seasonings if necessary).

6. Serve with the veggie mash. 

Corned Beef with Mustard Sauce

Since going additive free, I haven't bought corned beef from the supermarket due to all the nasties that are added to it.  However since reading Cyndi O'Meara's "Changing Habits, Changing Lives Cookbook" I realised just how easy it is to make yourself.  That cookbook is where the original recipe comes from.   You don't get that bright pink colour with this corned beef but I promise, the flavour is amazing and more than makes up for that!  The beautiful mustard sauce is based on my mum in law's recipe!

Ingredients (serves 4-6)

1-1.5kg chunk of beef (I used a grassfed blade roast)

4 tbsp good quality salt (I used Murray River salt flakes)

1 onion, peeled

10 whole cloves

2 tbsp molasses

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

Few whole peppercorns

Mustard sauce:

2 tbsp butter

2 tsp dijon mustard

2 tbsp cornflour (gluten-free)

1 cup cooking liquid from beef

Salt and pepper, to taste

To serve - assorted vegetables

Method:
1.  Stab a few holes all over the beef and then place in a large glass dish.  Sprinkle the salt and rub it in all over the beef.  Cover and put into the fridge for around 24 hours.

2.  Rinse the beef and place into a large pot.  Cover with filtered water.  Push the cloves into the peeled onion and add to the pot.  Add molasses, apple cider vinegar and peppercorns and give the liquid a good stir.  Cover the pot and cook beef on a very low heat for approximately 2 hours, turning the beef every now and then.

3.  In the last 10 or so minutes, add any vegetables you would like to have on the side to the cooking liquid (I added shredded cabbage and chopped carrots, and also had some white and sweet potato chunks cooking in a separate pot).

4. Make mustard sauce: in a small pot on low heat, melt the butter and whisk in the mustard, cornflour and 1/4 cup of the cooking liquid from the beef until smooth.  Add the remaining 3/4 cup of cooking liquid, season with salt and pepper and continue whisking until the sauce is slightly thickened.    

Easy Bolognese

An oldie but a goodie - this is my version of it.  Another one of my family faves because it allows me to pack loads of veggies into it!  Also, this might be a good time for me to talk about cooking fats.  I prefer to use saturated fats (eg butter, ghee, duck fat, coconut oil) for cooking with as they are a lot more stable when exposed to heat, due to their molecular structure.  As much as I can, I try to minimise heating unsaturated fats as they go rancid as soon as they are exposed to heat  - I try and stick to using these kinds of fats at room temperature (eg salad dressing).  

Ingredients (serves 4-6)

1 tbsp duck fat or butter or ghee

1 onion

2 cloves garlic

500g free range beef mince

1/2 capsicum

6 mushrooms

1 carrot

1 zucchini

60g preservative-free red wine (I use either Wild Fox or Settlers Ridge brands)

350g tomato puree

2 tbsp tomato paste

2 tsp Herbamare

2 tsp balsamic vinegar

2 tsp rapadura or raw sugar

1 tbsp chopped fresh basil

1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

Freshly ground salt and pepper, to taste

Method:

1.  In a medium saucepan on medium heat, melt the cooking fat.  Add the diced onion and minced garlic.  Cook until softened.

(In Thermomix, add halved onion and garlic cloves.  Chop 2sec/sp7.  Add cooking fat and cook 2min/100deg/sp1).

2.  Grate the veggies and add them to the saucepan along with the mince.  Cook, stirring, for a few minutes until the mince is browned.

(In Thermomix, add chunks of veggies and chop 5sec/sp6.  Add mince and cook 5min/100deg/rev+sp1).

3.  Add wine, tomato puree, tomato paste, Herbamare, balsamic vinegar and sugar.  Turn down the heat and simmer for around 10 minutes.  Adjust seasonings if necessary.  Stir through the chopped herbs. 

(In Thermomix, add remaining ingredients and cook 10min/100deg/rev+sp1).  

4.  Serve on top of your choice of spaghetti and grate some fresh parmesan over the top.