Cottage Pie

Ingredients

• 750 g beef mince
• 2 onions, finely diced
• 2 carrots, finely diced
• 2 celery sticks, finely diced
• 2 tbsp tomato purée
• 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 500 ml beef stock
• a few sprigs of thyme
• 1.2 kg floury potatoes, quartered
• 80 g butter
• 100 ml warm milk
• 80 g mature cheddar, grated
• 1 tbsp oil

Method

1. Sweat the base

   Cook the onion, carrot and celery in the oil until soft and sweet.

   12 min

2. Brown the mince

   Turn the heat up and brown the beef properly in batches. Grey mince gives you a pale, thin filling however long you simmer it.

   10 min

3. Build depth

   Stir in the tomato purée and cook it out for two minutes until it darkens, then add the Worcestershire sauce.

4. Simmer

   Add the stock and thyme and simmer uncovered until thick enough to hold a spoon upright. A wet filling boils up through the mash in the oven.

   40 min

5. Make the mash

   Boil the potatoes until tender, drain and leave to steam dry for a few minutes, then mash with the butter and warm milk. Season hard.

6. Assemble and bake

   Spread the mash over the cooled filling, rough up the top with a fork so it catches, scatter with cheddar and bake at 200°C until golden and bubbling at the edges.

   35 min