Traditional Cottage Pie Recipe

Traditional Cottage Pie Recipe

There is not a meal that gets everyone’s approval more than this simple traditional Cottage Pie recipe.

This is typical British fare and we love it as we can cook a large batch which will keep us going for a while – it freezes nicely and reheats well.

A great meal prep idea – we presently have two frozen in our freezer waiting to be eaten!

Cottage Pie or Shepherd’s Pie?

A British Cottage pie recipe uses ground beef as the primary ingredient, whilst a Shepherd’s Pie uses ground lamb.

So to make a Shepherd’s Pie you just have to substitute the beef in this recipe for lamb. So here you also have an easy Shepherd’s pie recipe!

A little more on the origins of the two types of pie here: British pie origins. 

Ingredients?

There are several ways to make this dish. Some people use celery for example.

As we have some fussy non-celery-likers in this house, I have left this ingredient out, and to be honest, I prefer it like this.

We use carrots, onions, sweet corn and peas as the main ingredients apart from the potato and mince, but you are of course free to experiment.

You will find that I have included Marmite as a secret ingredient here.

This is a really typical British ingredient and is just a yeast extract that I use to cook (and eat on toast with butter).

They say you love it or you hate it. All my kids were brought up on it.

In Australia they have a similar product called Vegemite. All it does is add a bit of extra taste and saltiness to the sauce.

If you do not have it in the cupboard do not worry, but I find it does improve the taste.

Mashed Potato

The secret to making this simple cottage pie recipe a success, is getting it right with the amount of potato, and making a perfect mashed potato.

You need to have enough mashed potato to cover all the sauce so that it can cook nicely underneath the potato ceiling.

You are actually better off making a bit too much mashed potato.

Then if you do have some leftovers you can make some fish cakes or bubble and squeak cakes later.

In this recipe you can see my own ‘secret ingredient’ for the mashed potato – a bit of Hellman’s Real Mayonnaise! 

It just adds a bit of creaminess that is SOOOO good!

It is also nice if you can leave some peaks on the potato so that you get some nice crispy bits on the top when it is finished.

This is a very tasty and easy to make dish that anyone can try.

The quantities given below are enough to fill a 3-litre oven dish like the one shown in the pictures. This will give you 4-6 portions.

And again, if there is anything left over it will keep well in the fridge or freezer for later.

Let me know in the comments section below how you get on making this recipe!

How to make an Easy Cottage Pie

Traditional Cottage Pie

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This delicious cottage pie is typical British fare that will keep you warm in the winter. Replace the minced beef with minced lamb for a super shepherd's pie recipe.

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cook Time 40 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp Olive oil
• 1 kg Ground beef
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 large Onion, finely chopped
• 1 sprig Rosemary, leaves removed and chopped finely
• 2 cups of frozen peas (petit pois)
• 4 Carrots chopped into rounds, then quartered into roughly 1cm pieces
• 100g sweetcorn, drained
• 600ml Beef stock
• 2 tbsp Worcester Sauce
• 2 tsp Marmite
• 1 tbsp Tomato puree
• Salt and pepper
• 1 tsp mixed herbs
• Parmesan Cheese, finely grated
• For the mash:
• 1kg Potatoes, peeled and halved (the best tasting ones you can find)
• 20 g Knob of Butter
• 1/2 tsp Nutmeg powder
• 50 ml Splash of Milk
• 2 tbsp Hellman’s Mayonnaise
• 50g Cheddar Cheese, grated
• Salt and pepper

Instructions

1. Boil a pan of water with a pinch of salt, and use it to boil the potatoes. 
2. In the meantime, use some olive oil to fry the garlic and onions (I use my wok). When soft, place into oven dish.
3. Then fry the mince in the same pan until all browned. When ready, pour away any excess fat from the meat.
4. Then add the onion, garlic, carrots, sweetcorn, Worcestershire sauce, Marmite, beef stock and tomato puree, bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Stir intermittently.
5. Remove the potatoes from the heat after about 15 minutes, when the potatoes are tender but not yet falling to pieces. Drain the potatoes, add the butter, milk and mayonnaise then mash them using a masher until they are smooth.
6. Then add the cheddar cheese to the potatoes, the nutmeg, salt and pepper and mix all together. Do this when the potatoes are still hot. Try and get as smooth as possible, removing all the lumps if you can.
7. Finally, add the peas, the mixed herbs and rosemary to the meat sauce before seasoning to suit, and pouring into the oven dish. 
8. Then cover the meat sauce with the mash, smoothing it over the entire surface. Then use a fork to run lines through the mash, and raise a few peaks. Finally sprinkle with some Parmesan to finish off.
9. Cover and keep the oven dish in the fridge until you plan to cook this meal (same day).
10. To cook, place in a pre-heated oven at 180C for 40-50 minutes or until the sauce is nicely bubbling and the mash has browned nicely.

Notes

If you get the meat sauce right, this meal needs no condiments. The vegetables compliment each other perfectly and give a great tasting filling. 

However I must admit it that it does go down well with some Heinz tomato ketchup :).

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