Cottage Pie

Recipe Creator: Jennifer Walsh

My version of a cottage pie.

Whenever I'm cooking with mince, I see it as the perfect opportunity to load my children up with extra vegetables and lentils. The best part? they rarely realise they've just eaten six or more vegetables along with a generous serving of lentils. Truthfully, that excites me even more than the cottage pie itself.

That said, there is something incredibly comforting about a cottage pie on a cold winter's night. I love watching my family gather around the dinner table, eagerly tucking into a hearty, home-cooked meal. There's something wonderfully humbling about it.

Best of all, it's a meal my children genuinely enjoy, vegetables, lentils, and all, which makes it a definite

winner in our home.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 tbs olive oil

• 2 garlic cloves | minced

• 1 large onion | or 2 small

• 1 large carrot | or 2 small

• 4 celery stalks

• 1 large zucchini | shredded

• 1.5kg beef mince meat

• 1 can of lentils

• 1/4 cup of plain flour

• 1.5 tsp onion powder

• 1.5 tsp garlic powder | mix the onion and garlic powder in with the flour

• 1 beef bouillon cube

• 1/4 cup of tomato paste

• 1.5 cups of beef stock

• 1/2 cup of red wine

• 2 tbsp of Worcestershire sauce

• 1 tsp dried thyme

• 1 tsp dried rosemary

• 1.5 tsp salt & cracked pepper

• 6 potatoes

• 1 sweet potato

• 1/4 cup sour cream

• 150grms butter

Notes:

1. I like to mix the flour, onion powder and garlic powder together

2. When mixing the stock, I like to add in the salt and beef bouillon and Worcestershire sauce in together.

   
   

Method:

1. heat a large saucepan with the olive oil, once heated add the diced onion.

2. now that the onions are almost translucent, add the celery, zucchini and carrots.

3. once the veggies are cooked through, add the lentils

4. mix your flour through the veggies, then slowly add your stock in, continuously stirring, do this until all the flour is mixed through.

5. add your beef mince, mix through

6. add the wine, mix through

7. add the tomato paste, mix through

8. add the cracked pepper, allow to simmer until minced has browned

1. in a pot of boiled water, add your peeled and diced potatoes and sweet potato

2. once softened, drain the water out from the pot, then replace the boiled potatoes and sweet potato into the same pot used to boil them in, this keeps it warm and is great for melting the butter and sour cream.

3. add the butter and sour cream, a sprinkle of salt, to your liking, I use about 1.5 tsp

4. mash until smooth

5. transfer mince mixture to your favourite baking dish, then layer the mashed potatoes. don't worry if you feel there's too much mash, extra is actually better because some will dissolve into the mince mixture, once the potato mash is layered on, using a fork, created a few lines.

6. in a pre-heated oven, 180 degrees fan forced, bake for about 20 minutes or until the top is crispy.

7. allow to cool before serving for about ten minutes, otherwise it won't serve as well, (it will be slopy)

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/72dbbb_25ce8a5526da489fab89c2bf1aaf1c34/480p/mp4/file.mp4

I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as my family does. If you give it a try, please pop back and say hello. I'd genuinely love to hear how it turned out, and seeing your family gathered around the table enjoying it would make my day.

Warm regards,

Jennifer xoxo

Healthy Habits with JenWalsh ❤️