No.162 Cottage Pie

This is a recipe to take your time on. I have broken the recipe down into two parts as you can make this mostly the day before. Take your time to cook the mince and season as needed to get a rich gravy. You can use lamb mince to make this a shepherd’s pie. Just switch the beef stock for lamb stock and add an extra bay leaf.

Serves: 4-6

Time: 2 Hours

Difficulty: Straight Forward

500g of Beef Mince

2 Carrots

1 Onion

8 Chestnut Mushrooms

1 stalk of Celery

1 Bay Leaf

1 tablespoon of Worcestershire Sauce

1 tablespoon Soy Sauce

2 tablespoons of Flour

750-1000ml of Beef Stock

1kg of Potatoes

100g of Frozen Peas

4 Spring Onions

3 tablespoons of Butter

1. In a large cast iron casserole pot with a little oil fry the mince until it is well browned. Remove from the pot and set aside.
2. Dice the carrots, onion and celery. Cut the Mushrooms into eighths (halved, halved and halved again). Add these into the pot and sweat until softened.
3. Add the mince back in and coat the mixture in the flour. Cook for 2 minutes before adding the stock, soy sauce (for colour), Worcestershire sauce and the bay leaf.
4. Simmer for 30-40 minutes until thickened.
5. Meanwhile chop the potatoes leaving the skin on and boil for approximately 20 minutes until soft and able to be mashed.
6. Mash the Potatoes and add the butter. Dice the greens of the spring onions and add to the mash.

All the above steps can optionally be done the day before.

7. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.

8. Pour the mince mixture into a large oven proof dish. Add a layer of frozen peas on top. Then add the potato mixture. Smooth out the potato mixture with a flat kitchen utensil such as a palate knife.

9. Add a pattern to the potatoes such as criss-cross lines.

10. Bake for 30-40 minutes (dependant on your oven proof dish shape) or until the pie has reached 75 degrees Celsius for 5 minutes in the centre.

11. Leave to cool for 5-10 minutes before serving.