Is there anything more satisfying at this time of year than a comforting bowl of delicious, stodgy food? Well this warming Winter Cottage Pie is comfort food at it’s best. Inspired by Mob Kitchen, I followed the ingredients mostly, taking out celery and reducing the amount of mince used, and I tweaked the actual method slightly to save some time – it still turned out extra gorgeous! Check out the original recipe from Mob here and see my tweaked one below 🙂
I loved the process of blitzing the chopped veg in a blender before cooking, so that this became part of the rich sauce than being chunky veg. Total calories = approx. 680 calorie per portion.
Ingredients (for 2 people);
- 300g Beef Mince
- 2 Carrots
- 1 White Onion
- 2 Springs of Rosemary
- 1.5 Tbsp Tomato Purée
- 1 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
- 1/2 Tbsp English Mustard
- 120ml Red Wine
- 250ml Beef Stock
- 600g Potatoes
- 25ml Whole Milk
- 40g Butter
- 50g Grated Cheddar
- 100g kale
- Salt
- Pepper
- Olive Oil
Method (Takes approx. 70-80 mins including prep);
- Preheat a large pan with a splash of olive oil over a medium-high heat and and brown off your beef mince. Don’t add any salt yet!
- While your beef is browning, chop up the carrots and onion and chuck them into a food processor. Blitz into a coarse paste. You can finely chop the lot if you don’t have a processor or you fancy the practice, this is just an easy time saver!
- Add the veggies to the pan with the beef mince and a big whack of salt and black pepper. Chuck in the rosemary sprigs whole and cook over a medium heat for 10 mins. Add the tomato purée, Worcestershire sauce and mustard and cook for a further 5 mins.
- Now crank up the heat to high and deglaze with the red wine. Reduce by half and add the beef stock. Lower the heat to a simmer and leave the sauce to bubble away for approx. 20 mins/while your potatoes cook.
- Preheat the oven to 200°C.
- Meanwhile, peel your potatoes and cut into even 5-6cm chunks. Boil in well seasoned water until very tender. This will take between 10-12 mins. Drain and allow to steam for 5 mins.
- Mash until smooth with the butter and milk. Season with salt and add half of the grated cheddar.
- Taste your ragù and season with more Worcestershire sauce, salt and black pepper if needed. Now roughly chop your kale, stems and all, and get it into the sauce. Pour into a baking dish and top with your mash. Top everything with the rest of the grated cheddar
- Bake for 30 mins until golden brown and bubbling. Serve with steamy seasonal greens, peas, broccoli – whatever you fancy! We had it as it was and it was fulfilling enough.
Enjoy this winter warmer and let me know what you think!
If you have any recipe recommendations, questions or would like to collaborate with me in any way, please just email me at jensfoodblog@gmail.com!
Happy munching!
Jen
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