Dinner · British

Cottage pie

Name: Cottage pie
Total time: 80 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: British
Ingredients: 500g Beef mince; 1 Brown onion; 2 Carrots; 1 tbsp Plain flour; 1 tbsp Tomato purée; 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce; 1 cube Beef stock cube; 150g Frozen peas; 1kg Potatoes; 40g Butter; 100ml Semi-skimmed milk; 60g Mature cheddar, grated

Rich mince under a crisp cheddar mash. Tastes like Sunday even when it is Thursday.

Start to finish: 1 hr 20 min
Hands-on: 40 min
In the fridge: 3 days
Freezes: Yes

Contains gluten, dairy, celery, fish

Ingredients

4 portions

500gBeef mince
1Brown onion
2Carrots
1 tbspPlain flour
1 tbspTomato purée
1 tbspWorcestershire sauce
1 cubeBeef stock cube
150gFrozen peas
1kgPotatoes
40gButter
100mlSemi-skimmed milk
60gMature cheddar, grated

Plus salt, pepper and water.

Method

1
Chop the onion and dice the carrots small.
2
Brown the mince in a large pan for 8 minutes, breaking it up as it goes. Add the onion and carrots and cook for 8 minutes more, until soft.
3
Stir in the flour and purée for a minute, then the Worcestershire sauce and the stock cube crumbled into 400ml water. Simmer with the lid ajar for 25 minutes, until thick and glossy. Stir in the peas for the last few minutes.
27 min, mostly hands-off
4
Meanwhile, heat the oven to 200C (180C fan). Peel the potatoes and cut them into even chunks.
5
Boil the potatoes in salted water for 15 minutes, until very tender. Drain, let them steam dry for a minute, then mash with the butter, milk and plenty of pepper.
25 min, mostly hands-off
6
Tip the mince into a baking dish and season. Spoon over the mash, rough up the top with a fork and scatter over the grated cheddar.
7
Bake for 25 minutes, until golden and bubbling at the edges. Serve, or cool and portion into tubs.
27 min, mostly hands-off

On the day

Reheat in the oven or microwave until piping hot all the way through. It needs nothing else, though some greens never hurt.

Cook’s tip

To freeze it whole, skip the bake. Cool the assembled pie, wrap it well and freeze. Defrost overnight in the fridge, then bake for 40 minutes, until piping hot in the middle.