Husband has ruined dinner

[OnAJetPlane26]

I’m been upstairs packing for a holiday so asked husband to cook dinner, all of the ingredients for a shepards pie are in the fridge/cupboard.
Came down and thought.. That smells nothing like shepards pie. He has poured an entire jar of Passata and half a jar of parsley into the meat.
Im going to beans on toast. My AIBU is this..
YABU.. Sounds fine to me.
YANBU.. He has made bolognese with mash potatoes and gravy.

Parsley in a jar has zero flavour, so not to worry.

Just add more veg.

I had an ex whose mother was Spanish but she had spent a lot of time living in England and she did quite a few hybrid dishes like this, and one was definitely a version of Shepherds pie with tomatoes. It was lovely but she was an excellent cook. I don't know about all the parsley, but I think it's pretty childish to refuse to even try it and call it grim and not a great example to set to a child.

It actually has exactly the opposite effect. There are many recipes where dried herbs are more effective, particularly sage, mint and oregano. If Yotam Ottolenghi can use dried herbs then they're good enough for everyone else.

IMO dried parsley is fit only for the bin.

If you get a nice big fresh bunch of parsley and wet it thoroughly, then wrap it tightly in foil, it keeps well in the freezer. Then you can just slice chunks off for cooking with - it’s almost as good as fresh.

I’d definitely try a small portion since he’s gone to the bother of making it .
FWIW i keep frozen chopped herbs , ginger and garlic in my freezer.
plus I have a few jars of dried herbs and spices in my cupboard.

I mean, honestly, just stop with this.

Quite a few of us have explained that the phrasing was confusing.

He has poured an entire jar of Passata and half a jar of parsley into the meat.

This makes it sound like both ingredients are wet ingredients. If the OP had said 'half a jar of dried parsley', we all would have understood. As it was, many of us were picturing a pesto-type preparation.

I have dried Parsley but assumed it was jarred fresh stuff ( and wondered where it came from) because NO ONE would put half a jar of dried stuff in.

How do you dry it? I've got a glut of mint at the moment and whilst the rosemary will last into the winter in the garden the mint will not, oven? Airing cupboard...... I can imagine freshly dried mint would do lovely things to lamb gravy

Unless he didn't use the mince that was available, I really don't see that the meal he made took less effort than your recipe. It sounds as if he used more ingredients.

You would hate my shepherds/cottage pie OP, I put lentils, grated carrot, grated courgettes, spinach, tinned tomatoes/passata in with the mince - and often use sweet potato for the topping with grated cheese browned on top.

And yes use of the word “pour” makes it sound like a wet ingredient.

Seeing as you're quite picky OP, it wouldn't have been a shepherd's pie anyway even using your recipe, you need lamb for a shepherd. Or has he made lamb and parsley Bolognese....?

Oh come on

I grow a little herb patch for cooking, but often lean on dried herbs in a pinch.

Knowing that dried parsley exists doesn't mark you out as a non-foodie.

Ridiculous even by MN standards.

But @OnAJetPlane26 was expecting a lovely Shepherds Pie and got something that was not well put together.

Nothing wrong with dried herbs, but if its a big heap thrown in as an afterthought without time to soak up the sauce and rehydrate, I can see why OP thinks its horrible.. pointless dry gritty bits... Also, large quantity of passata, not completely cooked, would just be a bland drippy tomato liquid.

4/10 for effort - I think that's what her real beef is (sorry for the pun)

I sympathise OP my DH recently made a Chickpea Surprises (his own recipe) The surprise was instead of a teaspoon of turmeric, he chucked in a heaped tablespoon and then some extra to really give it "a kick". It gave it a kick alright, sort of stung my tongue and I'm convinced it had tooth staining properties. Inedible.
Another speciality is chucking in whole stock cubes to "do their own thing". A surprise mouthful of undissolved stock cube is horrible.

As an aside, left over chilli topped with cheesy mash and browned in the oven, is delicious

I probably wouldn't notice tbh. Seems Shepherds pie ish to me. Near enough. As long as the potato is golden and crispy a bit on top.

I dry mint in a glut for making tisanes and cooking. It works well. I dry in bunches in the kitchen/greenhouse.

It’s giving wannabe middle class, anyway…

I did try it, I didn’t like it.
DS is not a child.
DH & DS could not give a toss that I had beans on toast, really really, they do not care.

Ooh Mumsnet, we've solved it!

The people that haven't heard of dried herbs (and presumably spices given that they all share the same area) are the very reason so many people think British food is bland.

Op, it doesn't sound great. I once had the lid of my jar of basil fall off as I was shaking some in. The result was genuinely inedible.

(Note for those that need it: basil can also be bought dried in jars)

Enjoy your beans on toast. I'm so tempted to go buy some bread now so I can have the same...

Oh that's right. Maybe this is cottage pie. tomatoey herby cottage pie.

Usually in tubs not jars, jars sound more like some sort of paste or something.

If you haven’t tried it you don’t know what it tastes like.

Do you not go to a supermarket, like, ever?

I've served up some 'creative' dishes in my time, they have been politely received, I'd try it and expect it to be Bolognese with mash. Probably best served with salad or a summer veg medley would be my only comment. You are being ungrateful.

Passata would be fine just not traditional, parsley rather depends what it was and how strong.