Say hello! to our East Meets West Cottage Pie. There are many recipes available for Cottage Pie, and indeed Shepherd's Pie, which uses lamb mince as opposed to beef.
The humble Cottage Pie can be traced back as far as 1791,when the potato was introduced as an edible crop and was made affordable to poor people. It wasn't until nearly 100 years later that the Shepherd's Pie came about. Originally, the cottage pie recipe consisted of using up any leftovers and the pie dish would have a lining inside the dish of mashed potato as well as a mashed potato crust on the top. These days, the most popular is to use the mashed potato only on the top of the pie.
We carried out a mini survey over at our Lovefoodies Facebook page and asked which pie everyone preferred - a Shepherd's or cottage pie. The votes were split, and we couldn't decide! Someone came up with the name 'Moo-Baah' Pie, after the sound a cow and a lamb would make (referring to the use of minced beef or lamb), so we also affectionately call this a 'Moo-baah' pie over on Facebook!
Here in this recipe, as with many at Lovefoodies, we try and add a bit more flavour and jazz, so that our taste buds get tickled and try and make a dish really something to remember. Of course, you can always leave out some of the spices and herbs, and just eat it plain....but that wouldn't be much fun!
So flick your oven on and lets get cooking!

You will need
1 large saucepan for boiling potatoes
1 pan to cook the filling
A potato masher
An ovenproof dish. Mine measures 12 inches x 8 inches and 3 inches deep

Ingredients:

The mashed potato
3 ½ lbs or 1.5 Kg potatoes (fluffy type for mashing)
7 fl oz or 200 ml milk
½ stick or 50 g butter
Pinch salt
1 Teaspoon mustard (powder or jar)

The filling
1 Lb or 500 g ground meat of your choice, or for vegetarians, ground soya meat
1 large chopped onion
1 Clove garlic crushed / chopped
½ lb or 300 g mushrooms chopped
1 large carrot, peeled & sliced
1 ⅓ cups or 200 g frozen peas
1 ⅓ cups or 200 g frozen sweetcorn
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil

The flavours
3 heaped Tsp Cornstarch mixed with 1 cup cold water (mix well)
2 Tsp dried parsley
2 Bay Leaves
1 Teaspoon Tumeric
1 Teaspoon Mild Curry Powder
1 Teaspoon Cumin
1 Stock cube
1 Teaspoon Balsamic vineagar
2 Teaspoons Worcester Sauce
Salt & Pepper
10 fresh Basil leaves

Please note, you can mix and match the vegetables to suit your taste, and you can also swap the spices & herbs for your favourites. I chose these as it is one of my favourite combinations.

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Instructions:

The main thing we need to do is get everything ready before we start cooking. The instructions sound like a lot, but if you break it down, it is very easy indeed. I will show you in 3 different stages to make it easy and organised.
First of all, switch your oven to 180 C, 350 F, Gas 4
1. Preparing the potatoes
Peel & cut your potatoes into quarters and boil.
Once cooked, drain and mash very well, add butter, mustard, and pinch salt. Add enough milk to get a creamy yet slightly stiff consistency.

2. Prepare the filling.
Chop onion, garlic & mushrooms.
Add 1 Tblsp olive oil to a pan and fry onion, garlic & mushrooms until soft. (don't burn)
Add the meat
Add the vegetables
Add all the spices / sauces from the flavours ingredient list, except the cornstarch & water & Basil leaves
Once the filling is cooked, add the cornstarch & water, stir until the ingredients are all combined. Cook on a low heat for 10 minutes. Take off the heat and mix in the fresh Basil leaves. Have a taste to see if you need more salt & pepper.
Transfer the filling to the oven dish and spread evenly.
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3. Build your pie
Now we put the mashed potato on top of the filling. The easiest way I do it is to place it all on the filling and then use a spatula to spread the potato so it is evenly covering the dish. Make sure the filling is completely covered with the mash

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You don't need to do this next bit, but I like a bit of a pattern and some crispy bits on the pie, so I take a fork and run lines all over the top of the mash so it looks like the photos here. Once it goes in the oven it will brown and crisp up a little. Make a pattern of your choice!

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Place the pie in the oven for 45 minutes. Serve with some extra gravy or on it's own.

Tip : I put my pie dish on a baking tray in case the filling bubbles over when it's cooking in the oven

This is a great dish if you want to make it up before hand, and when you are ready, just put it in the oven.

This will also freeze very nicely. I have made up these pies in those aluminium foil containers, and frozen them at the point BEFORE you place in the oven. When you want one, just place in the oven, from frozen, at a lower temperature and cook for 20 minutes longer. Stick a knife in to see if the center is hot.

Serve the Cottage Pie with an extra helping of delicious Home made Onion Gravy! Click on the photo opposite to see the easy recipe.

We'd love to hear from you and what you thought of our post. Did you make any changes or add some other goodies? Let us know in the comments below. Thanks for reading and happy cooking!

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East Meets West Cottage Pie

Prep Time

30 mins

Cook Time

40 mins

Total Time

1 hr 10 mins

 

The humble Cottage Pie can be traced back as far as 1791,when the potato was introduced as an edible crop and was made affordable to poor people. It wasn't until nearly 100 years later that the Shepherd's Pie came about. Originally, the cottage pie recipe consisted of using up any leftovers and the pie dish would have a lining inside the dish of mashed potato as well as a mashed potato crust on the top. These days, the most popular is to use the mashed potato only on the top of the pie.

Servings: 4

Ingredients

The mashed potato

• 3 ½ lbs or 1.5 Kg potatoes fluffy type for mashing
• 7 oz fl or 200 ml milk
• ½ g stick or 50 butter
• Pinch salt
• 1 Teaspoon mustard powder or jar

The filling

• 1 Lb or 500 g ground meat of your choice or for vegetarians, ground soya meat
• 1 large chopped onion
• 1 Clove garlic crushed / chopped
• ½ lb or 300 g mushrooms chopped
• 1 large carrot peeled & sliced
• 1 ⅓ cups or 200 g frozen peas
• 1 ⅓ cups or 200 g frozen sweetcorn
• 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil

The flavours

• 3 Tsp heaped Cornstarch mixed with 1 cup cold water mix well
• 2 Tsp dried parsley
• 2 Leaves Bay
• 1 Teaspoon Tumeric
• 1 Teaspoon Mild Curry Powder
• 1 Teaspoon Cumin
• 1 Stock cube
• 1 Teaspoon Balsamic vineagar
• 2 Teaspoons Worcester Sauce
• Salt & Pepper
• 10 leaves fresh Basil

Instructions

1. Switch your oven to 180 C, 350 F, Gas 4
2. Peel & cut your potatoes into quarters and boil.
3. Once cooked, drain and mash very well, add butter, mustard, and pinch salt. Add enough milk to get a creamy yet slightly stiff consistency.
4. Prepare the filling. Chop onion, garlic & mushrooms.
5. Add 1 Tblsp olive oil to a pan and fry onion, garlic & mushrooms until soft. (don't burn)
6. Add the meat. Add the vegetables. Add all the spices / sauces from the flavours ingredient list, except the cornstarch & water & Basil leaves
7. Once the filling is cooked, add the cornstarch & water, stir until the ingredients are all combined. Cook on a low heat for 10 minutes. Take off the heat and mix in the fresh Basil leaves. Have a taste to see if you need more salt & pepper.
8. Transfer the filling to the oven dish and spread evenly.
9. Build your pie. Now we put the mashed potato on top of the filling. The easiest way I do it is to place it all on the filling and then use a spatula to spread the potato so it is evenly covering the dish. Make sure the filling is completely covered with the mash
10. You don't need to do this next bit, but I like a bit of a pattern and some crispy bits on the pie, so I take a fork and run lines all over the top of the mash so it looks like the photos here. Once it goes in the oven it will brown and crisp up a little. Make a pattern of your choice!
11. Place the pie in the oven for 45 minutes. Serve with some extra gravy or on it's own.

Recipe Notes

This is a great dish if you want to make it up before hand, and when you are ready, just put it in the oven.
This will also freeze very nicely. I have made up these pies in those aluminium foil containers, and frozen them at the point BEFORE you place in the oven. When you want one, just place in the oven, from frozen, at a lower temperature and cook for 20 minutes longer. Stick a knife in to see if the center is hot.