Cottage Pie

When we were back in the UK, I loved heading off to Tesco or ASDA and buying the microwavable frozen versions of cottage pie, shepherd's pie and fish pie for a quick meal on lazy days. Now that it's been over 3 years since we moved back to India, I couldn't help trying to satisfy my cravings by googling up the recipe online. I used the version from BBC Good Food and tweaked it a little based on convenience.

Ingredients:

Beef:

1 kg minced meat
3 medium onions
2 carrots
2 celery
4 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp flour 
4 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
I tbsp tomato purée 
750 ml beef stock
2 pods garlic
2 pinches dried thyme

Mash:

2 kg potatoes
1 cup milk
150g grated cheddar cheese
2 tbsp butter
Salt
Pepper

Garnish:

50g grated cheddar cheese

2 tbsp butter

Fine bread crumbs

Method:

Beef:

Add 1 tbsp of olive oil to a pan and cook the minced meat, allowing it to brown. Keep aside.

Finely chop the onions, carrots and celery. I use a vegetable chopper.

In another pan, heat the 3 tbsp olive oil, add the chopped onions and some salt and sauté till they’re thoroughly cooked to translucency. 

Add the garlic, sauté for a minute, then add the tomato purée and sauté again.

Add the carrots and celery with a half cup of the beef stock and allow to simmer on low heat till the vegetables are cooked (around 15-20 minutes).

Add the cooked meat, remaining beef stock, Worcestershire sauce and dried thyme and allow to simmer till the liquid reduces, around 30 minutes. When there’s still half the liquid left, add the flour and stir into the mixture. Allow to simmer and cook till the gravy thickens.

Mash:

Cook the potatoes in salted boiling water. You can also do this in a microwave.

Peel and mash the potatoes, adding the milk, 150g cheese, butter and seasoning with the salt and pepper.

The Pie:

Transfer the beef gravy to a buttered baking dish and spread the mixture in an even layer. Top this with the mashed potatoes. You can spoon it on or pipe it on. Top it with the remaining grated cheddar cheese and some butter.

Bake in a preheated oven at 425 degrees F or gas mark 7 for about 30 minutes, till the potato-cheese layer is golden.

Tip: You can replace the carrots and celery with any vegetable of your choice.