We have Cottage Pie once a week. It can easily become a Shepard’s Pie if you use lamb mince instead of the beef. It is such a great meal that works well for left overs or frozen ready meals. My daughter has not been wanting cooked carrot recently so we just had it with peas this time and had the carrots steamed on the side and served the pie on a bed of baby spinach. It is a great meal as you can load it up with lots of vegetables and adapt it to suit different likes and dietary requirements.

Ingredients:

• 500g beef mince
• 1kg potatoes
• 375-500ml stock
• 1-2 tbs tapioca flour
• 1 carrot
• ½ cup frozen peas
• Ground pepper
• 1-2 clove garlic (minced)
• Oregano (or other safe dried herbs)
• 1 onion
• Margarine (up to 3 Tbs)
• Suitable milk (as much as needed to make a creamy mash potato)

Method:

1. Peel and chop the potatoes so these can steam (microwave or stove top) while the beef mixture cooks.
2. Finely dice onion and mince garlic
3. Heat oil of choice in frying pan (I used spray rice-bran oil)
4. Add onions to the pan and soften/brown. Add garlic for 1 min before adding beef mince.
5. Fry beef mince until cooked
6. Grate carrot or finely chop (depending on your preference). Add to pan, cover and steam for a few minutes
7. Add frozen peas and stir
8. Add tapioca flour and coat the beef mixture (I added about 1 Tb this time)
9. Add stock (I added about 500 ml this time)
10. Simmer until desired consistency. Add more stock or tapioca flour to achieve a nice gravy sauce consistency so the pie isn’t too dry. A tip if adding flour after the liquid is added, mix flour with a small amount of water to make a paste before adding it.
11.  Drain and mash potatoes, add margarine (I used about 3 Tbs) and milk (coconut milk or rice milk) until a creamy mash has been achieved
12. Add beef mixture to a casserole dish, layer and spread mashed potato over the top. I used a fork to scrape a texture on the top of the pie – I find this makes the pie top brown and flavor nicely.
13. Bake for 45 minutes
14. Serve with steamed vegetables or a side salad
15. This recipe is great portioned up and frozen as ready meals. I make sure I send one each day to my daughter’s daycare as her hot meal of the day.

If you give this recipe a try please let me know how it turns out, I’m happy to troubleshoot or discuss how you could substitute these ingredients if some of the ones I’ve used aren’t suitable to your family’s sensitivities.