Cottage Pie

A simple traditional British dish, packed with comforting flavours. A traditional ‘Cottage Pie’ was originally any ground meat with a covering of mashed potato. If lamb meat is used it’s called a Shepherd’s Pie, but in this case we’ve used beef mince.

Any green vegetables go well with this dish - leeks, peas, kale, cabbage. If you have fussy eaters you could easily hide some extra vegetables in the meat sauce - think small pieces of leek or celery, or grated carrot.

Skills Check

Follow a recipe; follow food safety and hygiene rules; tidy away; use a timer; use measuring spoons and cups; use a jug to measure liquids; cut using the bridge/claw knife technique safely; mash; use the hob/oven (with adult supervision); use a colander; season to taste.

Equipment

Chopping board, sharp knife, measuring cups and spoons, measuring jug, 2 saucepans, wooden spoon, colander, potato masher, spoons, spatula, table knife, baking dish.

Allergens Please note the allergens listed are indicative only. Allergens vary depending on brand; check the labels on the products you use.

Wheat, Barley, Celery, Milk, Fish, Sulphites

Ingredients (serves 4-6):

• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 650 g beef mince
• 2 tbsp tomato puree
• 1 tbsp plain flour
• 1 tbsp thyme
• 500 ml beef stock
• Worcestershire sauce, to taste
• Pepper, to taste
• 900 g potatoes, peeled and chopped
• 75 g reduced fat spread
• 125 ml semi-skimmed milk

Method

1. Heat the oil in a pan. Add the onion and when it begins to soften add the beef mince and fry until brown.
2. Stir in the tomato puree and plain flour and cook for a further minute.
3. Pour in the beef stock, and add the thyme. Give everything a really good stir. Simmer for around 45 minutes, until the beef is tender and the mixture has thickened.
4. Meanwhile, prepare the mashed potato. Put the potatoes in a pan of water and bring to the boil. Simmer for 12-15 minutes, or until tender.
5. Drain the potatoes well, and mash; adding the butter and milk and beating to form a smooth mash. Season to taste with pepper.
6. Taste the beef mince and season, adding a few dashes of Worcestershire sauce. Put the beef mince in a baking dish and spoon the mash over the top. Spread the mash around with a spatula or table knife to cover the meat.
7. Grill for 8-10 minutes until golden brown.

So thinking about Cottage Pie ...

Beef mince is a great source of protein and iron, as well as some other vitamins and minerals; however it can also be high in fat so choose lean mince wherever possible.

Potatoes are a nutritious and filling starchy food; low in fat and a source of vitamin C and fibre.

Vegetables are so good for us! Low in fat, sugar and calories and high in vitamins, minerals and antioxidants.

Nutritional Information

per 378g serving
% of an adult's reference intake
Typical values per 100g: Energy 445kJ / 106kcal

Notes

A traffic light system is used on nutrition labels to make it easier to see which foods and drinks are lower in calories, fat, sugar and salt. Try and choose more ‘greens’ and ‘ambers’ and fewer ‘reds’, and stick to smaller portions of ‘reds’.

Just because a recipe or a food has a red traffic light doesn’t mean you shouldn’t eat it. Understanding why a food or recipe might have a red light can be helpful. For example oily fish is high in total fat and so any recipe containing oily fish is likely to be ‘red’ for fat. But it is recommended that we eat oily fish at least once a week because the type of fat it contains is beneficial for our health.

% Reference Intakes are also shown. Reference Intakes are guidelines about the approximate amount of particular nutrients and energy required for a healthy diet (based on an average-sized woman doing an average amount of physical activity). Most children will require less than these Reference Intakes. The contribution of one serving of a food or drink to the Reference Intake for each nutrient is expressed as a percentage.