Quick Cottage Pie Recipes

COTTAGE PIE (OR SHEPHERD'S PIE)

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• Make mashed potatoes: Add potatoes to a saucepan with 3 inches of water. Cover and bring to a boil. Cook until fork tender, about 12-15 minutes.
• Drain the water and leave the potatoes in the pot. Cover with the lid and allow to steam for a few minutes.
• Mash the potatoes lightly with a potato masher (avoid over-mixing the potatoes). Add butter, sour cream, milk, parmesan cheese and salt and pepper and stir just until smooth. Set aside.
• Make the meat filling: In a large, oven-safe* 12 inch skillet with sides, add the ground beef and ground sausage (or ground lamb, to make shepherd's pie). Season with salt and pepper.
• Cook over medium heat until browned, breaking the meat into small pieces with a wooden spoon as it cooks. Drain some of the grease (reserving some in the pan) and remove meat to a plate.
• Add the onion, celery and carrots to the pan and saute for about 5-8 minutes, until tender. Add garlic and flour and toss to combine. Cook for 1 minute.
• Add the beef broth, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, herbs and bay leaves and stir to combine.
• Bring to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes. Taste and add extra seasonings, if needed. Remove bay leaves and stir in frozen peas, corn and cooked meat.
• Assemble the pie: Spoon the mashed potatoes over the meat mixture to completely cover the top. Sprinkle with shredded cheddar cheese.
• Bake for about 30 minutes, until golden and bubbling. Allow to cool for 15 minutes before serving, to allow the gravy sauce in the meat mixture to cool and thicken.

COTTAGE PIE (SHEPHERD'S PIE)

Steps:

• Preheat your oven to 400F.
• Saute your beef over medium high heat until browned, 7-10 min. Remove the beef from the skillet.
• Add the vegetables** and garlic to the beef juices in the pan. Cook until soft, 7-10 min.
• Reduce the heat to medium and add the tomato paste and flour. Saute until the flour is completely moistened.
• Return the cooked beef to pan. Add the stock, Worcestershire sauce, and thyme. Simmer 5-10 min, until the gravy thickens.
• Taste the mixture and season with salt and pepper to taste.
• Transfer the meat mixture into a greased, 8x8 baking dish. Spoon or pipe the mashed potatoes over the meat mixture.
• Place the dish in the oven at 400F and cook for 20-30 min or until the top is golden and the filling is bubbly.
• Let stand 5-10 min before serving.

COTTAGE PIE

Steps:

• Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a large saucepan and fry 1¼ kg beef mince until browned - you may need to do this in batches. Set aside as it browns.
• Put the other 2 tbsp olive oil into the pan, add 2 finely chopped onions, 3 chopped carrots and 3 chopped celery sticks and cook on a gentle heat until soft, about 20 mins.
• Add 2 finely chopped garlic cloves, 3 tbsp plain flour and 1 tbsp tomato purée, increase the heat and cook for a few mins, then return the beef to the pan.
• Pour over a large glass of red wine, if using, and boil to reduce it slightly before adding the 850ml beef stock, 4 tbsp Worcestershire sauce, a few thyme sprigs and 2 bay leaves.
• Bring to a simmer and cook, uncovered, for 45 mins. By this time the gravy should be thick and coating the meat. Check after about 30 mins - if a lot of liquid remains, increase the heat slightly to reduce the gravy a little. Season well, then discard the bay leaves and thyme stalks.
• Meanwhile, make the mash. In a large saucepan, cover the 1.8kg potatoes which you've peeled and chopped, in salted cold water, bring to the boil and simmer until tender.
• Drain well, then allow to steam-dry for a few mins. Mash well with the 225ml milk, 25g butter, and three-quarters of the 200g strong cheddar cheese, then season with freshly grated nutmeg and some salt and pepper.
• Spoon the meat into 2 ovenproof dishes. Pipe or spoon on the mash to cover. Sprinkle on the remaining cheese.
• If eating straight away, heat oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7 and cook for 25-30 mins, or until the topping is golden.
• If you want to use a slow cooker, brown your mince in batches then tip into your slow cooker and stir in the vegetables, flour, purée, wine, stock, Worcestershire sauce and herbs with some seasoning. Cover and cook on High for 4-5 hours. Make the mash following the previous steps, and then oven cook in the same way to finish.

PROPER ENGLISH COTTAGE PIE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
• To Make Meat Filling: Place a large skillet over medium heat. Crumble in ground beef and saute 1 minute. Add onion and carrot, then continue to saute until meat is no longer pink and onion begins to brown, about 5 minutes. Mix in flour, cinnamon, mixed herbs, and parsley.
• In a small bowl, combine beef broth and tomato paste. Mix together, then add to beef mixture. Add salt and pepper to taste. Lower heat and simmer mixture for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until almost all of liquid has been absorbed. Spoon mixture into a 9 inch pie plate.
• To Make Potato Topping: Place diced potatoes in a medium saucepan. Cover with water and place over high heat. Allow to come to a boil. Boil for 15 minutes, or until potatoes are tender. Drain.
• Mash potatoes until smooth, then add butter or margarine, followed by milk. Whip until fluffy. Add salt and pepper to taste. Spread potatoes over beef filling. Sprinkle with grated Cheddar cheese.
• Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes, until top is browned and cheese is bubbly.