Cottage Pie-style beef mince with creamy mash top

Slow-cooked beef mince in a rich onion and tomato gravy, topped with buttery mashed potato and baked until golden and bubbling — proper British comfort food.

Ingredients

• 1 kg beef mince (around 15% fat)
• 2 onions, finely chopped
• 2 carrots, diced small
• 2 celery sticks, diced
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 tbsp tomato purée
• 1 tbsp plain flour
• 250 ml beef stock
• 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 kg floury potatoes (Maris Piper), peeled and chunked
• 100 g butter
• 100 ml whole milk
• 50 g grated mature cheddar
• Salt and black pepper

Method

1. Boil the potatoes in salted water for 15-18 minutes until very tender. Drain well, return to the pan and steam-dry over the lowest heat for 1 minute.

2. Meanwhile, brown the mince. Heat a large oven-proof pan over high heat. Add the mince in batches and brown hard for 5-6 minutes per batch — colour = flavour. Set aside.

3. Build the gravy. Lower the heat to medium, add a splash of oil and cook the onions, carrots and celery for 10 minutes until soft. Add the garlic for 1 minute more, then stir in the tomato purée and flour and cook 2 minutes.

4. Combine. Return the mince to the pan with the stock, Worcestershire, thyme and bay. Simmer gently for 20 minutes until thickened. Season.

5. Mash the potatoes. Push them through a ricer or mash well. Beat in the butter, milk and most of the cheddar. Season.

6. Assemble. Spoon the mince into a baking dish. Pipe or spoon the mash on top, roughing up with a fork. Scatter the remaining cheddar.

7. Bake. 200°C / 180°C fan / gas 6 for 25-30 minutes until the top is golden and the filling bubbles at the edges.

Notes

Cottage pie uses beef; shepherd’s pie uses lamb. Both are excellent , this is the beef version.