The BEST Cottage Pie

Growing up, one of my favorite frozen meals was the cottage pie. It has everything I love, a rich veggie and meat sauce, fluffy mash and cheese to top it off. This is a pretty simple recipe, but the great thing I found out about this is that you can add whatever you want! This recipe is great to make in a big batch and is freezer friendly, just like the inspiration behind it. I’m a student working part time in a kitchen, and sometimes I just don’t want to cook after a whole evening of doing it, so freezing meals in advance are essential for those lazy nights when I want to eat something a bit better than just 2 minute noodles.

One thing to note is if you plan to freeze this meal, make sure to use a container that’s freezer friendly and one that you can heat up the meals in. I think that using disposable foil or plastic ones are your best bet, but if you can’t, cook it in a separate dish and then put it in a freezer-friendly Tupperware. I cooked mine in a big glass dish, so I just portioned mine out into freezable meal-prep containers to freeze.

Recipe

Serves: 6-8 portions|Prep time-20 mins|Cook time-1 hour

Ingredients

• 2 Small Red Onions, finely chopped

• 1 Large Brown Onion, finely chopped

• 1 Pack Mushrooms, sliced (I used Chesnut cup, but you can use button mushrooms, or any other mushrooms you like that don't have a super strong flavour)

• 3 Garlic Cloves, crushed and cut finely

• 2 Stalks Celery, diced finely

• 300g Carrot, diced (I couldn’t find whole carrots, so I used a bag of batons and cut them into even cubes)

• Frozen peas

• 900g (2 packs) Minced Beef (or lamb if you want to make a Shepherd’s pie)

• 2 TBSP Tomato Puree

• 1 Beef stock cube

• 600ml water

• Red wine, I used Merlot

• 1/2 a bag of Maris Piper Potatoes ( I just eyed this)

• Milk, and butter

• Cheddar cheese, grated

• Salt + pepper

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1. In a pot, heat 2 tbsp of olive oil to a medium heat, then add in the onions. Sweat these for about 10-15 minutes, until sweet and translucent. I like to use both because the red onion has a sweeter and brings a richness. Add the garlic and fry for another minute

2. Add the minced beef, and brown. Chop up the meat into smaller bits with a wooden spoon so the consistency at the end isn’t chunky. Add the tomato paste and cook into the meat for a couple of minutes

Add the mushrooms, then after 3 minutes, add the carrots and celery. Brown these all together until slightly softened.

3. Add about 200ml of wine, and keep stirring this around the meat, until the wine has reduced right down and there isn’t an alcohol smell.

4. Crumble in the beef stock cube, then add the water, you may need more or less. Stir, then turn the heat up until the whole mixture is boiling. You can also use a tin of chopped tomatoes here with the water to add a more tomato-y flavor.

5. Once the mixture is bubbling, turn the heat down and let the mixture reduce, around 30-45 minutes. You want the finished product to be brown, thick and rich. Add the frozen in peas last. Season to taste

6. Peel and chop the potatoes, then cover with cold water and bring to a boil. Around this time is when you should preheat the oven to about 180°C. Once the potatoes are fork tender, drain.

7. In a small saucepan, heat up about 100ml of milk and 30g of butter until warm. Start mashing the potatoes with a masher or ricer. Slowly add in the milk mixture and use a wooden spoon to mix around, making sure not to overwork the potatoes, else they’ll get gloopy by the time you’re done. Taste, and season accordingly. You can also add a couple handfuls of grated cheese at this step if you want a cheesier mash.

8. Pour the meat mixture into a dish, spreading it out so there’s an even surface. Put dollops of the mash mixture over this gently. It’s important to be gentle at this step, so the meat doesn’t run out the sides of the dish. Use a fork to prod everything down, making sure it’s even. Then, run the fork along the dish vertically, making lines along it. This is going to help the pie become crispy later on

9. Top with cheese, then bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes, or until the cheese is bubbling and golden. If you’re freezing the meal, once baked, let cool down and freeze in the correct container.

I recommend serving this with some steamed broccoli, some extra gravy if you like, but this is already very filling!