Name: Cottage pie
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 1 h 15 min
Total time: 1 h 30 min
Yield: 5–8
Cuisine: Australian
Ingredients: 1½ tbsp olive oil; 2 garlic cloves, minced; 1 onion, finely chopped; 1 carrot, finely chopped; 1 celery stick, finely chopped; 750 g beef mince; 40 g (¼ cup) plain flour; 55 g (¼ cup) tomato paste; 500 ml (2 cups) beef stock; 125 ml (½ cup) red wine (or water); 1 beef stock cube, crumbled; 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce; 1 tsp dried thyme; 2 dried bay leaves; ¾ tsp salt; ½ tsp black pepper; Topping: 1.2 kg potatoes, peeled, cubed; 165 ml (⅔ cup) warm milk; 30 g butter; Optional: 20 g grated parmesan + 30 g butter to drizzle

Method

Cook onion and garlic in oil 1 minute; add carrot and celery 3 minutes. Add beef; brown on high.
Stir in flour, then tomato paste, stock, wine, stock cube, Worcestershire, thyme, bay, salt and pepper. Simmer rapidly ~30 minutes until gravy-thick. Transfer to a pie dish; cool if time.
Heat oven to 180°C. Boil potatoes until soft; drain, steam-dry, mash with butter and milk.
Spread mash over filling; rough with a fork. Sprinkle parmesan and drizzle butter if using.
Bake 25–30 minutes until golden and bubbling. Rest 5 minutes.

Tip: Different from shepherd’s pie (that uses lamb). Cool filling so mash doesn’t sink.