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Dinner recipe

Smoky Beef Tomato Jackets with Lettuce Crunch

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Oven-baked potatoes loaded with smoky tomato beef and cheddar, with a crisp lettuce and carrot salad alongside.

Start planningStart cookingIngredients
105 min665 kcal4 base servingsDinnerMeat LedJacket PotatoesFamily Friendly
ContainsMilk
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Recipe and nutrition estimates

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Focus ingredients: beef mince, baking potatoes, lettuce, cheddar

Dietary fit: Gluten-free

Serving tip: Cool cooked potatoes and beef promptly in shallow portions and refrigerate within 1–2hours at 0–5°C. Keep salad and cheese separately chilled. Use within 48hours or an earlier packet limit; reheat potatoes and beef once only until steaming hot throughout, then add cold salad and cheese. Follow any product instruction prohibiting reheating.

Smoky Beef Tomato Jackets with Lettuce Crunch plated and ready to serve.

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Ingredients

What you need

  • 500g beef mince
  • 4 baking potatoes
  • 1 × 400 g tin chopped tomatoes
  • 30ml tomato puree
  • 150g red pepper
  • 150g onion
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 200g little gem lettuce
  • 200g carrots
  • 100g cheddar cheese
  • 30ml rice vinegar
  • 15ml olive oil
  • 2 tsp smoked paprika
  • 10ml wholegrain mustard
  • 1 tsp brown sugar
  • 1/2 tsp black pepper
  • 100ml water

You'll also need

35 × 25cm oven tray for four potatoes, 30cm 5l deep saute pan, clean bowl, salad bowl, grater, scales, jug, knife, board and clean probe thermometer

Method

Step by step

Up to 8 clear steps
  1. Smoky Beef Tomato Jackets with Lettuce Crunch cooking step 1: Start the potatoes.
    Step 1

    Start the potatoes

    For more than four servings, repeat batches of no more than four, dividing displayed ingredient and method totals between batches. Keep potato size, tray capacity and 250g meat batch limit fixed; allow extra elapsed time. Heat oven to 200°C conventional/180°C fan. Scrub, dry and prick all potatoes, 175–225g each. Space no more than four on a 35 × 25cm tray. Bake 60–80 minutes until the skins are dry and a knife passes easily through each centre; continue cooking if still firm.

    80 min
  2. Smoky Beef Tomato Jackets with Lettuce Crunch cooking step 2: Prepare the vegetables.
    Step 2

    Prepare the topping and salad

    While the potatoes bake, finely chop onion and dice pepper into 1cm pieces. Crush garlic. Wash and dry lettuce before shredding, grate carrots and cheddar, and keep salad and cheese separately refrigerated until needed. Begin cooking the topping after the potatoes have baked about 20 minutes so it finishes close to them.

  3. Smoky Beef Tomato Jackets with Lettuce Crunch cooking step 3: Brown the beef.
    Step 3

    Cook the beef

    Measure 7.5ml olive oil and divide between two equal beef batches. Heat each share in the 30cm 5l pan over medium-high heat. Add no more than 250g mince at a time and cook 8–10 minutes, stirring and breaking up clumps, until browned. Check the thickest clumps reach 75°C for 30 seconds with a clean probe; continue and recheck if needed. Transfer each cooked batch and juices to a clean bowl.

    20 min
  4. Smoky Beef Tomato Jackets with Lettuce Crunch cooking step 4: Build the sauce.
    Step 4

    Soften the vegetables

    Reduce the pan heat to medium. Add remaining 7.5ml olive oil with all onion and pepper. Cook 8–10 minutes, stirring, until softened. Add all garlic, tomato puree, smoked paprika, wholegrain mustard, brown sugar, black pepper and 15ml rice vinegar. Stir for 1 minute without letting the garlic burn.

    11 min
  5. Smoky Beef Tomato Jackets with Lettuce Crunch cooking step 5: Simmer the beef.
    Step 5

    Simmer the sauce

    Return all cooked beef and juices to the pan with all chopped tomatoes including their juice and 100ml water. Simmer uncovered 15–20 minutes, stirring regularly, until the sauce is thick enough to sit on the potatoes rather than run off. If the potatoes need a few more minutes, cover the sauce over the lowest heat and stir regularly until serving.

    20 min
  6. Smoky Beef Tomato Jackets with Lettuce Crunch cooking step 6: Make the lettuce crunch.
    Step 6

    Dress the salad

    Just before serving, toss all lettuce and grated carrot with remaining 15ml rice vinegar. Keep the salad separate from the hot filling so it stays crisp.

  7. Smoky Beef Tomato Jackets with Lettuce Crunch cooking step 7: Load the jackets.
    Step 7

    Load the jackets

    Split each tender baked potato and fluff the flesh with a fork. Divide all smoky beef topping and cheddar evenly over the potatoes, allowing the cheese to soften on the hot filling. Divide all lettuce-carrot salad alongside. Serve one filled potato per intended serving.