Hearty Cottage Pie

So Sydney did a total 360 with the weather and gave us a glimpse of winter last weekend! Luckily I had no plans and binge-watched Netflix all day (What else do you do in Winter?) and craved my mums cottage pie. I go long back with this dish and called her up and tried to take note of what all she did to create this beautiful and heartwarming pie. It sure did take me back to my childhood!

In my opinion, the key to achieving the best cottage pie is the meat mix! Not too runny but not too thick and you can achieve this by using the perfect amount of stock, flour and tomato paste. I also had a hard time estimating how many potatoes I needed to cover the entire pie and decided to make extra because mashed potato goes with literally anything but luckily made the perfect amount. Phew!

I topped the whole thing off with cheese (Talk about carbs overload!!!) and baked it until golden brown. As delicious as it looks coming out of the oven, you have to control yourself and let the entire dish set for 10 minutes or so. Trust me, I learned this the hard way! By the way, can I just mention how cute my baking dish is?! I was struggling to find a perfect size for just the two of us and got a bargain at the store called 'House' for only $10.00. 

Ingredients:

800g beef mince, drained

8 small to medium sized potatoes, peeled and chopped

1 cup stock (beef, chicken or vegetable)

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1 tablespoon tomato sauce

2 tablespoons of worcestershire sauce 

2 tablespoons plain flour, diluted with water to form a paste

1 cup of mixed vegetables, thawed 

1 cup (or more!) of grated cheese 

4 cloves of garlic, crushed

1 teaspoon of ginger, crushed 

2 tablespoons of oil of your choice

25-50g of melted butter

4-5 tablespoons of milk or milk alternative

Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

Heat the oil in a pan and add the garlic and ginger. Brown for a couple of minutes and add the prepared mince, breaking up any lumps. Add the worcestershire sauce and let simmer. 

In another pot, start to boil the prepared potatoes. Once excess liquid has evaporated in the mince mixture, add the stock of your choice and let simmer for a further couple of minutes. Add the mixed vegetables, tomato paste and tomato sauce and mix well. Let simmer and once the stock has reduced slightly, add the flour mix to thicken up the mince mixture. Taste for salt and pepper and add if needed. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 170 C fan forced. Once your potatoes are soft, drain excess water and place back in the pot or another bowl to make mash. Add the melted butter and milk and use a masher to achieve a smooth consistency without any lumps. Add more butter or milk if needed and add salt to taste.

In a baking dish, add the cooked mince to create the bottom layer. Smooth out evenly and then add the mashed potato on top gradually. This is hard to smooth without breaking through to the mince layer so be gentle with the mashed potato. Top with cheese and bake for 25 minutes or until the pie is golden. Set for a few minutes and enjoy while warm!