Dr Mobeus
Cottage Pie
Cottage pie is the dish every British budget cookbook should open with, because it is the whole argument for home cooking in one tin. Value mince, a couple of carrots and a bag of potatoes become four proper dinners for about £3.30, which is less than a single ready meal each from the chiller aisle. The trick that separates a good one from a canteen one is the mash lid. Rake it with a fork before it goes in the oven and the ridges turn golden and crisp while the valleys stay soft, with the gravy bubbling up round the edges. Made properly it needs nothing more than a spoonful of peas, though it never says no to a splodge of brown sauce.
Cottage Pie
Ingredients
Method
- Brown the mince in a large frying pan over a medium-high heat, breaking it up with a wooden spoon until no pink remains, then tip away the excess fat.
- Add the onion and carrots and cook for 5 minutes until the onion has softened. Stir in the flour, the crumbled stock cube and the tomato puree, then pour in the hot water and the Worcestershire sauce. Simmer for 15 minutes until the carrots are tender and the gravy has thickened. Stir in the peas for the last 2 minutes, season well and tip into an ovenproof dish.
- Meanwhile, boil the potatoes for 15 to 18 minutes until tender, drain well and leave them to steam dry in the colander for a couple of minutes. Mash with the butter and milk and season generously.
- Spoon the mash over the mince and rough up the top with a fork, raking deep ridges all over so they crisp up in the oven.
- Bake at 200C (180C fan) for 20 to 25 minutes until the ridges are golden and the gravy bubbles at the edges. Rest for 5 minutes before serving.
Tips and Variations
Shepherd’s pie is the same dish made with lamb, so either name is fine depending on the mince you bought. Freeze the assembled pie before baking and cook from frozen with an extra 20 minutes. A teaspoon of mustard in the gravy sharpens it up, and any hard cheese grated over the mash before baking turns it into the posh version. Leftovers keep two days in the fridge and reheat covered in the oven for 15 minutes.
