cottage pie

vicbenjake

Hello all,

First post on MSE so hope I'm doing everything right.

Quick question how do you all make cottage pie with mince?

My kids love to eat this at nursery, but they always pull faces when I serve it at home.

Any recipes/ideas welcome.

Thanks

thriftmonster

I use a bolognaise sauce underneath as my family prefer a tomatoey version. Sometimes I mash leeks into the potatoes as well

carbonel

Fry onions add mince and fry for couple minutes, add water, simmer, add tomatoes and curry paste/powder to taste, thicken with gravy granules when ready to serve - yum.

Ask 'em at nursery for the recipe!

Paulie'sGirl

Hey,

My mum makes a very simple one, which is like the mince from mince and dumplings topped with mash. Its lush!

Brown the mince in a frying pan. Add to a saucepan. Fry some onions in the frying pan. Add these to the mince. Pour boiling water over, add masses of ground black pepper and simmer til it smells lush.

Strain the mince through a sieve, keeping the liquid in a jug. Put the mince in the bottom of an ovenproof dish. Add a little of the liquid back to moisten (some people add peas at this stage, or carrots). Put the rest of the liquid back in the saucepan and thicken with bisto or similar. top the mince with mash, make pretty patterns with a fork (we like a little grated cheese over the mash - yum!) and brown under the grill.

Serve hot with gravy and cooked veg. Sprouts, carrots, swede... All yummy!

Also good for making double quantity and freezing? So you could have cottage pie, and then another day mince and dumplings? Or use the mince for a mince and onion pie (with or without spuds)

Oooohhh - I'm hoping that's for tea now...

*drools slightly!*

Paulie'sGirl

whoops - duplicate post. Something funky happened with my browser! must've been from the drool

emeraldbugle

Why not use sweet potatoes rather than normal spuds..yum yum

lauralla

My fave recipe is a Nigella Lawson recipe - chop up an onion, a clove of garlic, couple of carrots and a stick or two of celery, and chuck in the pan, til a bit soft. Then put the mince in and brown it. Make up some gravy (I use bisto) and perhaps add some mixed herbs, then add the gravy to the mince and veg. Meanwhile, make some mash potato. Put the mince/veg in a dish, smooth the mash over the top and brown in the oven - you can sprinkle cheese on top of the mash too.

janeawej

my favourite is my mums recipe. fry a chopped onion, remove and brown mince, add onion sprinkle on a little p flour (off the heat) just enough to absorb juices, then add a bit of water or stock and heat up till gravy thickens, add salt, pepper and a dash of worcester sauce, (mum adds some home grown fresh oregano) maybe a clove of garlic or herbs put into dish then top with mash potatoe or as we prefer, I boil some potatoes, allow to cool then slice into rounds and place on top of the pie in several layers then brush with a bit of melted butter, bake about 200c for 20-30 mins, sometimes i add a b it of grated cheese on the top about 10 mmins before end of cooking time

bigburd

I know this sounds a bit thick but my dad is coming for dinner tomorrow and is very old-style!! I have decided to make Lentil soup, cottage pie with fresh steamed green beans and apple strudel and custard for pudding. Can you give me advise on the best way to put the spud on top of the mince because last time I did this it sank a bit and although it was just for the littleburds and OH I want it to look good this time and not be one more thing my mother thinks I can't do properly!!:eek: The mince is almost finished cooking BTW!!

Thanks in advance.

Gingham_Ribbon

I make it with lentils so I know it's not the same but it can help if the 'mince' isn't too juicy and I know that some people recommend putting the potatoes on when the mince has cooled down or has been refridgerated first.