The best cottage pie
This dish is beautiful with the sweetness of the port and depth of a good beef stock. The herbs make it so savoury and tasty. A big bowl of this with warm crusty bread makes my family and friends happy anytime of the year...enjoy!
Ingredients
Serves: 6
- 900g (2 lb) minced beef
- 2 OXO® stock cubes
- 1/2 swede, finely diced
- 3 carrots, finely diced
- 1 large onion, diced
- 2 garlic cloves, grated
- 2 bay leaves (dried or fresh)
- 1 tablespoon dried thyme
- 1 tablespoon dried rosemary
- 1 mugful of port
- 600 to 1200ml (1 to 2 pt) beef stock (enough to cover)
- 1.3kg (3 lb) potatoes
- 1 mug frozen peas
- 1 handful finely chopped parsley
- cornflour, to thicken
- 1 knob butter
- milk, as needed
- salt and pepper to taste
Method
Prep:20min ›
Cook:2hr ›
Ready in:2hr20min
- Fry the mince in a little oil with the stock cubes till browned. Add in the swede, carrot, onion, garlic, bay, thyme and rosemary and fry for about 5 minutes.
- Add the port and leave uncovered, simmering until port has completely evaporated. At this stage add the beef stock to cover, and simmer for 1/2 hour, covered. Meanwhile, peel and chop your potatoes and boil till tender.
- Remove the bay leaves from the mince mixture, stir in the peas and parsley. Make a cornflour paste by adding water to a little cornflour in a cup, do this and stir in a little at a time till you get a lovely thick consistency.
- Preheat the oven to 200 C / Gas 6.
- Mash the potatoes with a large knob butter and add just a little milk as you want the potatoes to be quite firm. Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Transfer the mince to an ovenproof dish and layer the mashed potatoes on top in dollops starting from the middle of the dish spreading out gently. Then with a fork, score the whole pie.
- Bake in the preheated oven cook for approximately 40 minutes or until golden brown. Serve with crusty bread.
Tip
You can make this dish in advance a day or 2 and refrigerate ready for the oven. Also leaving the mince to cool before placing in the dish makes the potato a little easier to spread.
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Reviews & ratings
Average global rating:
(3)
Reviews in English (3)
Made this for my friends and they absolutely loved it as did my husband and I. Due to not having enough of some ingredients I only put half a mug of port in, adding a bit more water, and I used fresh dill, parsley and thyme from the garden but only 2 x teaspoons of each, which came through but didn't overpower the flavour. I also sprinkled the mash with strong cheddar cheese as I like it and so do my friends. - 09 Oct 2017
Lovely easy recipe. I sprinkled cheese on top resulting in a gorgeous golden finish. Living alone, I found this great to microwave leftovers for a quick meal after work. - 30 Apr 2017