Cottage pie

Here I was confused about the differences between cottage pie and Shepherd's pie. Basically, Cottage pie uses minced beef and Shepherd's pie uses minced lamb so I guess you can have vegetables in either dish.

Method

This can be as difficult or as simple as you like it. You could use pre-made mashed potato or you could make your own (that's what I did). I must admit, to save time, I used frozen vegetables but they are still healthy, cheap and quick to use and not messy at all.

Mashed potato

Peel and chop 6 large potatoes and steam/boil in small amount of water until soft. Remove from heat, drain.

Either use a masher or an electric hand held mixer. I found the mixer to be quicker. I added approximately one portion of potato at a time and added a drizzle of oil each time then blended (about 6 separate times).

Pie filling

Peel and chop 3 onions and cook in a pan, remove from heat.

Next I cooked 1kg of minced beef in a pan and added 2 cups of frozen vegetables, half a cup of boiling water and 6 teaspoons of gravy powder.

Once this is cooked, remove from heat, add cooked onions to the mix.

Put mixture into a large rectangle baking tray.

Place mashed potato on top and carefully spread out evenly.

Put the cottage pie in a preheated 180C oven and cook for 20 minutes or until potato is golden brown.