Traditional cottage pie
Try this recipe for traditional cottage pie, a British classic that's bursting with flavour.
Try this recipe for traditional cottage pie, a British classic that's bursting with flavour.
I think that the key with a traditional cottage pie is to build up layers of flavour: when Bruce Springsteen was recording Born To Run he asked Phil Spector how he achieved his ‘Wall of Sound’. He was told it was just layer upon layer of music, and a good cottage pie is the same: you build layer upon layer of flavour into the gravy until it reaches an unctuous, gooey, meaty perfection. The buttery-smooth mashed potato on the top is just there to soak it all up.
This recipe serves four to six people, but leftovers can be frozen if that's too much for you.
If you’re cooking to impress you can use beef stock instead of water and omit the gravy granules, thickening the gravy with a tablespoon of cornflour dissolved in a small amount of water instead.
You can also substitute half (or more) of the minced beef for the same weight of finely diced stewing steak, cooking the final meaty mix in the oven for a couple of hours until it is meltingly tender. Top with mashed potato as usual and sprinkle with 100g of grated cheddar cheese before finishing in a hot oven for 20 minutes.
Of course, you can substitute lamb mince for the beef, turning it into a shepherd’s pie.
You can use finely diced beef from the Sunday roast instead of the mince. In either case, leftovers will freeze very well.
(Hero image credit: Getty)
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