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Cottage pie is a hearty dish that many families in the United Kingdom enjoy daily. Its main ingredients are meat gravy and potato mash; add a twist before it hits the baking oven, and you already got it! If you want it on your dining table tonight, read this tutorial on how to make cottage pie and improve the classic recipe!
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How To Make Cottage Pie?
Cottage pie is a beloved dish, likely of English origin. Its other variants include Shepherd’s pie with sheep meat and hachis Parmentier. Minced meat and mashed potatoes are the dish’s foundation, but a lot of creativity can stem from its simplicity.
A cottage pie fills anyone’s craving for good hot food.
Without any further ado, let’s get into learning how to make an awesome cottage pie for you and your family to enjoy!
1. Mise en Place:
First of all, you need to assemble the ingredients you need. It’s good to make a checklist and separate the ingredients according to the list of execution steps later. Here are what you need:
- 3 tablespoons of olive oil
- 1 ¼kg minced beef
- 2 large onions – thoroughly chopped
- 3 carrots – thoroughly chopped
- 3 sticks of celery – chopped
- 2 cloves of garlic – finely chopped
- 3 tablespoons of unseasoned flour
- 1 tablespoon of tomato purée
- 1 tall glass of red wine
- 850ml of beef stock
- 4 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce
- A few sprigs of thyme
- 2 bay leaves
- 1.8kg of potatoes – cut into small cubes
- 225ml of milk
- 25g of butter
- 200g of strong cheddar, finely grated
- 1 teaspoon of fresh nutmeg, preferably grated
2. Prepare The Meat:
Time to prepare the oozing meat gravy
The first thing you will need to cook is the meat. Start with adding olive oil in a saucepan and fry your beef until it browns. Separate the chunk into small batches if you must, and set aside when you’re done.
While the pan is still hot, add the onions, carrots and celery sticks. Lower the heat and stir until the veggies become soft. After that, let garlic, flour as well as tomato purée join the pan for a bit before you re-introduce the beef to everything else.
For a kick of flavour, pour wine into your mix and let it boil before adding beef stock, Worcestershire sauce and your herbs. The entire meat sauce should simmer uncovered for 45-60 minutes. Stir the sauce whenever you feel like the components stick to each other and start to separate.
Be sure to season to your taste and remove the stems of herbs before you move onto the next step!
3. Form The Mash:
Next up is your potato mash. Drown your peeled potatoes in salty cold water in a separate pan and lower the heat when you see the liquid boiling. Once you drain the water out, you will have the base for your mash.
While giving your elbow a hard time with the masher, add your milk, butter, cheese, nutmeg, salt and pepper, so the mash is fatty and flavorful.
The mash goes on top of your pie later
4. Assemble And Cook:
Once both the major mixes are done, you can start to put them together. The meat goes into the oven-safe dishes first, and the mash goes on top later. If you have extra cheese, covering the top with it is a good idea. The oven needs to be at 220℃ for half an hour until the top looks gold and crisp.
Tips To Make Your Cottage Pie Better
1. Experiment With Different Cheeses:
Aside from simple cheddar cheese, you can introduce your cottage pie to various cheeses that add more complicated notes to the dish. Cantal, Cheddar’s cousin, is worth trying since it is similar to Cheddar in taste, with a deeper undertone and long-lasting aftertaste!
Cantal cheese is a great alternative to Cheddar!
Edam is another candidate for Cheddar substitution from the Netherlands. The cheese never goes bad, so even if you buy a large wheel, you can still use it continually over a long period. Edam tastes like a saltier and nuttier Cheddar, so you might want to adjust the salt in other parts of the recipe.
2. Serve With A Variety Of Sides:
To some people, cottage pie alone can be boring since “it’s just meat pie”. That’s why adding side ingredients that give the dish more texture and complex flavour will improve your pie. Roasted cauliflowers, minted peas, green beans, and other types of crunchy vegetables balance out cottage pie’s heartiness very effectively.
Aside from that, a piece of fresh bread to scoop up the pie’s content is a fun way to eat this wonderful dish!
3. Upgrade Your Typical Ingredients:
Aside from improving your cheese, you can up your game by carefully selecting the other ingredients in your pie, too. Replacing your run-of-the-mill potatoes with King Edward potatoes will give your mash a smoother and richer texture, such as mashed potatoes and shepherd’s pie, to add texture and heartiness.
Final Chef’s Note
The guide on how to make cottage pie is simple enough to become a staple in the United Kingdom, and now you can make it for your table guests from your kitchen, too! Be sure to play around with the recipe we gave you, and you will have much more fun with your meals.
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