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Cottage pie

There’s nothing particularly special about this recipe other than it came out rather well and I’d like to make it again!

Ingredients

• Beef mince, 400g
• Mashed potato¹, enough mash for 3cm layer
• Brown onion, 2 medium, minced
• White mushroom, 300g, diced small
• Carrot, 1 large, diced small
• Frozen peas, 1 cup
• Garlic, 3 cloves, minced
• Tomato purée, 1 tbsp
• Harissa, 1 tbsp
• Vegetable stock, 250ml
• Henderson’s relish, 1 tbsp
• Thyme, leaves from 4 sprigs
• Ground coriander, 1 tsp
• Ground cumin, 1 tsp
• Ground fennel seed, 1 tsp
• Salt + pepper

Instructions

1. Take a good-sized pan, put on a medium-high heat, add a touch of vegetable oil followed by the onion and garlic then cook until they start to turn translucent.
2. Add the carrots and cook for a 5 minutes.
3. Add the mushroom and cook for 10 minutes.
4. Stir in the tomato purée and harissa then cook for a few minutes.
5. Add the ground coriander, ground cumin and ground fennel seed, stir well then cook for a few minutes.
6. Stir in the mince and the thyme, using a spatula to ensure the mince is broken up.
7. Add the frozen peas, vegetable stock and Henderson’s relish. Season with salt and pepper then stir well.
8. Bring to a hearty simmer for ~20 minutes or until most of the liquid has reduced then set aside to cool.
9. Spoon the mixture into a deep oven dish and top with mash then grate some cheddar cheese on top.
10. Put the oven dish in the middle of a pre-heated oven set to 180℃. Cook for 30 minutes or until piping hot in the middle and golden on top.