Don't you LOVE a good Cottage Pie? They used to be made from left over Roasted meat that was ground up & made into a pie .... but hey! Why not make a BIG ONE from scratch & then make up a few for the freezer? Add the Orange Sweet Potato as the topping & DOUBLE YUM!
Those alfoil takeaway containers with the cardboard lids - are invaluable!
I use them with my Smoked Fish Pies, too :) Each one would feed 2 people easily.
(I never realised the difference between Cottage Pie & Shepherd's Pie .... did you??)
Not only is this dish the perfect comfort food for a chilly evening, but it’s also a meal with an interesting history.
Made to use up any leftover meat, Shepard’s pie dates back to the 1790s. When it is made with beef it's called cottage pie and if it is made with lamb, then it's shepherd's pie.
The sweet potato really spices this recipe up a bit to give it some kiwi flavour.
Ingredients:
- 2 tbsp. butter, olive or coconut oil
- 1 brown onion, finely chopped
- 2 medium carrots, medium diced
- 2 celery sticks, medium diced
- 450g lamb mince
- 1 ½ (375ml) cups beef stock
- 1 tbsps. Worcestershire sauce
- 40g tomato paste
- 2 large sweet potatoes, peel and cut to quarters
- 2 more tbsps. of butter
- Dash of cream or full fat milk
- ½ cup mozzarella cheese grated
- ¼ cup parmesan cheese, grated
- Freshly ground salt and pepper
Method:
- Preheat oven to 180°C for a fan forced oven.
- Heat butter in a large pan and on a medium heat add onions, carrot and celery.
- Cook stirring for 5 minutes or until vegetables are softened.
- Add lamb/beef mince and cook until browned, for about 5-8 minutes, squashing any lumps with a fork.
- Add beef stock, Worcestershire sauce and tomato paste.
- Season with salt and pepper.
- Reduce heat to low, stirring occasionally and cook for 30 - 40 minutes or until sauce thickens.
- When meat sauce has thickened, spoon into an oven proof dish and spread with mashed sweet potatoes (I would store some in separate alfoil containers at this point in time ....) and then continue with the smaller serve for 'this evening's meal' ...
- Sprinkle with the two cheeses.
- Bake 20 minutes or until the top is golden and juices are bubbling through.
- Serve with some simple steamed broccoli.
