Share the Cottage Pie

Savoury cottage pie

When I go to the frozen food aisle of the grocery store in search of shepherds pie, I find a flat brick of a casserole made with ground beef, gravy, a scant handful of vegetables and a topping of mashed potatoes. There are two flaws in this scenario.

1. What I have found is not, strictly speaking, a shepherds pie. Foodies and lexicographers will tell you that a shepherds pie is made with lamb or mutton. Make the same casserole with beef and it’s a cottage pie. You can research this at length on the internet and here’s a link from the British news outlet The Guardian to get you started.
2. Regardless of what you call it, the store-bought version will never ever be as good as the cottage pie you make in your own kitchen.

This cottage pie recipe is based on a Gordon Ramsay recipe I found several years ago on Recipezaar (which has since become food.com). My version makes a savoury supper dish in a quantity large enough for sharing or freezing for future use. As you’ll see in the last photo in this post, I made two 9” round casseroles (one for dinner, one for the freezer) plus one single-serve casserole to freeze and take to my mom.

There are a few ways to tailor your cottage pie to suit your tastes and your pantry. You can play with the type of vegetables you want to use. For instance, parsnips, turnips, and mushrooms work well. Just keep them finely diced or grated so everything cooks up evenly and the pie keeps its characteristic minced texture. The food processor is your friend for this task. I like the flavour that a good red wine gives the ground beef, but you can substitute beef stock if you prefer. The mashed potato topping is traditional and delicious. I’ve used Parmesan with the potatoes, but cheddar complements this dish very well, too. I’ve also used mashed cauliflower instead of potatoes to top the cottage pie. If you do this, I recommend steaming the cauliflower, as boiling it makes the mash a little too watery.

However you choose to make this dish your own, I hope you and yours enjoy this cottage pie.

MA's Cottage Pie

Cottage pie ingredients

Preheat oven to 350º F.

Have ready 2 - 9” round casserole dishes or 1 - 9” x 13” casserole dish

2 tbsp olive oil (if ground beef is fatty, omit the oil)

2 lbs lean ground beef

1 cup celery, finely diced

2 cups onions, grated

2 cups carrots, grated

2 cloves garlic, finely minced

4 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

2 tbsp tomato puree

2 tsp dried thyme

2 tsp dried rosemary

2 cups red wine (substitute with beef stock, if preferred)

1 cup beef stock

3 to 4 pounds potatoes, peeled and cut into pieces

4 tbsp butter

2 egg yolks

2 to 4 ounces Parmesan cheese, grated

sea salt and black pepper, to taste

Cooking down the filling

In a large frying pan, heat the oil. Add ground beef and sauté until cooked through.

Add celery, onions, carrots, and garlic. Saute until vegetables are softened.

Add Worcestershire, puree, herbs, wine and beef stock. Cook together for 15 minutes or until the liquids have cooked down and the sauce is thickened.

Meanwhile, boil the potatoes until cooked through. Drain and let stand a few minutes to dry out slightly. Mash the potatoes together with butter, egg yolks, cheese, salt and pepper.

Enough to share

Place beef filling in casserole dishes.

Cover beef filling with mashed potato topping. Grate extra cheese on top of pie.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or cool and wrap for the freezer.

To cook from frozen, defrost in the refrigerator, unwrap and cook for 25 to 30 minutes or unwrap and cook for 1 to 1 1/2 hours until pie is cooked through. 

Printable Recipe for MA's Cottage Pie