Comfort Food Friday: Warm up throughout winter with this deliciously simple cottage pie

Cottage pie is a fantastic comfort food as it’s easy to make and delicious to eat. Make your own with this recipe.

With a rather different festive season now a memory, what hasn’t changed as we move into the month of January is the need for great comfort food to get us through the coldest months of the year.

Today we bring you this deliciously simple cottage pie recipe from food box delivery firm Gousto.

Combining beef mince with onion, carrot and garlic and topped with mashed potato and cheddar cheese, cottage pie is one of my favourites and this recipe certainly doesn’t disappoint.

And remember if you enjoy this dish, you can find all of our other Comfort Food Friday recipes here.

Cottage pie

Ingredients

• 1 red onion
• 1 broccoli stalk
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 carrot
• 250g beef mince
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 25g butter
• 40g cheddar cheese grated
• Milk
• 1 Marmite pot (8g)
• 1 tbsp tomato puree
• 4 potatoes
• Chicken stock cube
• Salt and pepper to taste

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 220°C/ 200°C (fan)/ 425°F/ Gas 7 and boil a kettle
2. Peel the potatoes and cut them into small bite-sized pieces. Add the chopped potatoes to a pot of boiling water, bring to the boil over a high heat and cook for 10-12 mins or until fork-tender. Once done, drain and return to the pot to steam dry
3. While the potatoes are cooking, reboil half a kettle, peel and finely chop the red onion, top, tail, and dice the carrot ad peel and finely chop (or grate) the garlic.
4. Heat a large, wide-based pan (preferably non-stick) with the olive oil over a medium heat. Once hot, add the chopped onion, carrot and garlic and cook for 3-4 mins or until beginning to soften.
5. Meanwhile, dissolve the chicken stock cube and tomato paste in 250ml boiled water and stir in the Marmite.
6. Once the vegetables have softened, add the beef mince and cook for 3-4 mins or until browned, breaking it up with a wooden spoon as you go. Once the beef is browned, add the tomato stock to the pan and bring to the boil over a high heat. Season with a grind of black pepper and cook for 4-5 min or until slightly thickened.
7. While the beef mixture thickens, return the drained potatoes to a low heat with the butter, a splash of milk and a pinch of salt and pepper, mash until smooth.
8. Once the beef mixture has thickened, transfer it to an ovenproof dish. Top with the mashed potato and sprinkle over the grated cheese. Put the dish in the oven for 15-20 min or until golden brown and bubbling – this is your cottage pie
9. While your cottage pie is cooking, reboil a kettle, cut the broccoli into florets and add them to a pot with plenty of boiled water and bring to the boil over a high heat. Once boiling, cook for 3-4 mins or until tender with a slight bite, then drain and season with a pinch of salt
10. Serve the cottage pie with the broccoli to the side and enjoy!

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