By Bailey

Yummy cottage pie à la Lambert

This is a great recipe during a cold weekend, when you need some cosy home cooking to keep you nice and toasty.

I can’t take the credit for this – this is Lambert’s recipe, but I can certainly vouch for it. It is absolutely scrummy. The best bit about this recipe? It’s a great dish to turn to when you need to cook up vegetables before they go off. Lambert chose to create the layer of mash with potatoes, as well as sweet potatoes and carrots. He also added some spring onions, which I thought added a great bit of flavour and texture.

How-To: Make Cottage Pie (with a twist)

You’ll Need:            

Filling:

1 x pack of beef mince
1 x carrot, sliced
3 x large shallots, diced
Vegetable stock (1 x cube within enough hot water to dissolve it)
½ tbsp tomato puree
2 x sprigs of thyme
Splash of Lea & Perrins
Salt and pepper to taste

 Mash:

5 x potatoes
1 x sweet potato
2 x carrots
Handful of spring onions, sliced
Knob of butter
Salt and pepper to taste
Handful of grated cheddar cheese

1. Brown off the mince
2. Add the rest of the filling ingredients, stirring as you go
3. Leave to simmer in its juices for ½ hour
4. Peel and chop your mash ingredients before adding to boiling water (excluding cheese)
5. When soft, drain and mash with butter
6. Add filling to oven proof dish
7. Add layer of mash on top
8. Sprinkle cheese on top
9. Cook in a 200˚C oven for 15mins – or until golden on top
10. Leave to cool slightly before serving. It’s pretty filling so it’s great on its own. If you only want a small portion, a green salad with balsamic vinegar goes well.

Do you have any tips on how to cook a good cottage pie? Please comment below – we’d love to hear your ideas!