Cottage Pie

The other night I made cottage pie for dinner! Actually it took two nights! That's just me though - sometimes making things over a longer time frame actually makes me less stressed haha. You could probably stew the meat for an hour and it would be fine, but I like to try for three. This recipe also makes a lot! I will freeze it and I can get around three cottage pies from it. I only freeze the meat mixture though, and I make the mashed potato fresh. Just in case you're wondering (I'm pretty positive that you aren't haha) cottage pie is made from beef and shepherds pie is made from lamb. But I'm pretty sure no one cares...

Cottage Pie

Stew ingredients:

• 1kg oyster blade steak
• 5 carrots
• 5 onions
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 2 tablespoons of plain flour
• salt and pepper
• herbs of your choice (I used mixed Italian herbs)
• 2 tablespoons of tomato paste
• 200mL red wine
• 2 cups of boiled water
• 2 bay leaves
• Worcestershire sauce
• 3 anchovies

Mashed potato ingredients:

• 500g potatoes (I used 8)
• butter (as much as you like... haha...)
• 3 tablespoons of milk
• Handful of grated cheese

Cut your beef into small chunks, around 1cm cubes. Toss in flour, salt, pepper and herbs. Cook at high heat with oil and a teaspoon of butter. While the meat is browning, cut the carrots and onions to a similar size to the beef. Mince the garlic. Once the meat has browned, add the carrots, onions and garlic and put the lid on to allow it to sweat. Once the vegetables have softened, add the red wine and make sure you scrape the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Once the wine has evaporated, add the tomato paste and cook it out a bit. Add a few dashes of Worcestershire sauce and a couple of anchovies. Add the bay leaves and the hot water. Simmer for a minimum of 1 hour, but up to three. It's a good idea to cool it down a bit before you put the mashed potato on top so they have a more defined layer.

Cut the potatoes into quarters and place in a pot with cold water and salt. Boil until tender. Drain well and mash with butter and a bit of warm milk. Salt to taste.

To assemble: Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Put a layer of the meat mixture on the bottom of an oven safe dish. Put the mashed potatoes on top and rough up the top. Add the cheese on top. Put in the oven until the top is golden, around half an hour.

Hope you like it and give it a go! What's you're favourite pie? I think mine is chicken and leek. I'm definitely more into the savoury pies.

love,

karlyn