Lentil and Mince Cottage Pie
The final dish
½ cook the mince
Saute the vegetables, add in garlic after 5 mins
Once it looks like this add the mince
Add the Worcester sauce, tomato paste
Add in the beef stock.
Mash the potatoes
Add the lentils and simmer
Once cooled spread the mash on and put in the oven
Ingredients:
Serves 4 | 1 hour cook | Approx 1808 for the whole pie, 452 per serve.
500g lean mince beef
1 Tin of brown lentils (can leave these out if you prefer)
1 Carrot
1 Leek
2 Cloves of garlic
Worcester sauce
Tomato paste (1 sachet)
2-3 Bay leaves
2 Cups of Beef stock/ splash of red wine as well if you have it
Tip: Cook in a pan that you can transfer to the oven ideally or have a baking tray ready to go.
This is also a great dish to pre-make prior to oven and makes great batch cooking, freezing options and leftovers.
For the mashed potato topping:
6 large Brown brushed potatoes
25-50g of butter for the mashed potato
Salt and pepper
Sprinkle of parsley for seasoning (optional)
Instructions:
Step 1: Prepare the potatoes
Peel and cut the potatoes and boil them in a saucepan of water.
Step 2: Prepare the vegetables
Peel and finely chop the carrot.
Wash, cut the ends of the Leek and slice finely.
Finely chop or crush 2 cloves of garlic.
Boil the kettle for the stock cubes.
Step 3: Cook the mince
On a medium heat, put some oil in a pan and fry the mince
Tip out some of the mince fat and when half cooked put some kitchen roll in a bowl and tip the mince in and set aside. The remaining cook time will happen in the oven.
Step 4: Cook the Veg
In the same pan, add some more oil and on a medium heat add the leeks and carrots and cook for approx 5 minutes (the rest will cook in the oven).
Add in the garlic after 5 minutes and cook for another 1 minute.
Add the mince to the pan and mix with salt and pepper,
Add a splash of Worcester sauce, the tomato paste and splash of red wine (optional).
Step 5: Add in the stock and lentils
Put 2 cubes of stock to 1 cup of boiling water and add to the pan.
Add the bay leaves at the same time.
On a medium to high heat, lid off cook for 20 minutes to allow the stock to reduce.
Step 6: Add the lentils
After the 20-minute mark add the tin of drained lentils.
Add 2-3 bay leaves.
Turn the heat to low and simmer until the sauce is the right consistency for you.
Turn off and leave to cool from hot to warm (as you want the mashed potato to go on after it’s cooled).
Step 7: Mash the potatoes
Drain the potatoes. once soft.
Add salt and pepper and the butter and mash.
Leave to cool right down before spreading the mash on top otherwise it will sink into the sauce and won’t sit on top.
Step 8: Assemble the cottage pie
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.
Once the mash and mixture have cooled, spread the mash on top of the mince mixture.
Make swirls on top with a fork.
Cook in the oven for 20 minutes until golden brown on top.
Sprinkle some fresh parsley and serve.