Cottage Pie
When the rain appears, it’s time to run back home. That’s exactly what I did after visiting London at the weekend, on return to the flat I still had a nice amount of Sunday afternoon cooking time.
Time to bring out the casserole dish, and make some more traditional British comfort food.
I’m sure we’ve all had this as a kid, the tasty treat made by our parents. The trick is to make it nice and rich, with a lovely meaty depth.
For a portion good enough for 4 (or 2 greedy people) brown off a diced : onion, celery stick(x2) and a carrot in some lovely olive oil. Once done, just add in your mince meat (500g) bit my bit and let it brown off. [If easier, feel free to remove the veg to make this easier.]
Then to impart some flavour add a pint(~500ml) of beef stock/stock cube, a generous dash of worcester sauce and a teaspoon of mustard. Give it a good mix, and then let it simmer away with the lid askew, till it thickens up (30/40 mins) [You can always add some cornflour to help speed it up]
At the same time, add some peeled and diced potatos into some water and let them cook till soft. Just add however much butter/milk/oil you want to make a rich mashed potato. Don’t forget the S&P though.
Then it’s just about assembling into an ovenproof dish. I’m a bit greedy, and rubbish at measuring potatoes. So I had more of a meat fest, and a slight lack on the mashed side. Though I think you’ll all agree that it looks good!
The bonus of dishes like this, is that they are great to freeze, and for tasty meals at work the next day. I know I enjoyed it.
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This looks lovely. I usually add a splosh (technical term, that) of milk when cooking mince, it makes for a richer sauce and tenderises the meat a little.
Lizzie’s last blog post..Double-Herbed Meatballs
I managed to pull it off, I had to do some serious mash reorganisation to cover it all! I’ve heard about the milk trick when doing lasagna, will give it a try soon.
I do the milk thing too, it makes a big difference I think but be prepared to cook your ragu for at least a couple of hours.
Yeah I usually leave the ragu going for a while, some for some spagetti and some for lasagna.
Nothing can beat the taste of a rich sauce, mmmmm, must stop thinking of lasagna.
Milk! well I’ve never heard of that trick but will certainly be trying it next time. Cottage Pie is so simple and very very tasty, not to be confused with real Shepherd’s Pie either.
Chris’s last blog post..Spicy Salmon Soup
I’ve never had cottage pie, but I’m guessing it’s similar to shepherd’s pie? Love that golden crust on top!
Chris – Certainly tasty,
Y – Similiar in recipe, just substitute lamb mince for beef. The golden crust is always lovely.
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