cottage pie

6 large potatoes
15ml vegetable oil
500g beef mince (ground beef)
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
15ml tomato paste
15ml flour
30ml Worcestershire sauce
250ml beef stock
45ml butter
1,2ml nutmeg

Preheat your oven to 180℃.
Wash the potatoes and bake them in the oven until cooked. Remove and set aside.
Heat the oil in a large saucepan set over medium-high heat.
Add the beef and cook until golden brown and any liquid has evaporated.
Add the onion, garlic and tomato paste and cook for a few minutes while stirring.
Sprinkle with the flour and add the Worcestershire sauce and beef stock.
Bring to the boil while stirring.
Cover, turn the heat down slightly and simmer for 30 minutes. If the mixture becomes too dry, add a little water.
Season the beef with salt and pepper and set aside.
Turn your oven up to 220℃.
Cut the potatoes in half lengthwise and scoop out the flesh, leaving about 0,5cm of potato still stuck to the skin.
Place the potato flesh in a bowl and mash until smooth.
Add the butter and nutmeg and mix through. Season with salt and pepper.
Spoon the mashed potato into a piping bag.
Spoon some of the beef into the hollowed potato and pipe some mashed potato over the beef.
Place the potatoes in a baking dish and bake in the oven until warm and golden on top.
Serve with a fresh salad.

30ml sunflower oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, finely chopped
2 carrots, finely chopped
1kg minced beef (ground beef)
62ml flour
50g tomato paste
500ml beef stock
125ml red wine (or water)
5ml stock powder
30ml Worcestershire sauce
15ml thyme leaves
2 bay leaves
5ml salt
2,5ml ground black pepper

Topping:
1,2kg potatoes, peeled and cubed
125ml milk, warmed
100g butter, cubed
60g butter, melted
40g grated parmesan cheese

Place a saucepan on medium-high heat and add the oil to it.
Add the garlic and onion and cook for 1 minute.
Add the carrot and cook for another 3 minutes while stirring every now and then.
Turn the heat up and add the beef. Break the meat up with a wooden spoon and stir around until loose and browned from cooking.
Sprinkle the flour over the beef and stir through.
Add the tomato paste, beef stock, red wine, stock powder, Worcestershire sauce, thyme leaves, bay leaves and salt and pepper.
Stir the mixture and bring it to a simmer. Turn the heat to medium and cook for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
You should now have a reduced, gravy consistency that isn’t watery.
Taste the beef and adjust the seasoning according to taste.
Spoon the mixture into a 18cm x 28cm ovenproof dish and allow it to cool. If the meat is cool when you add the mashed potato topping, the meat won’t cook through the topping.

Preheat your oven to 180℃.
Cook the potatoes in a saucepan with boiling water for 20 minutes. Drain the potatoes and add them back to the saucepan.
Add the warmed milk and 100g butter and mash the potato until smooth.
Season with salt.
Spread the mash on the beef and rough up the surface with a fork.
Sprinkle the melted butter over and top with a sprinkling of the parmesan.
Bake the cottage pie for 30 minutes until it is beautifully golden on top and bubbling on the edges.
Serve piping hot.

Tag: cottage pie

Cottage Potatoes