Cottage pie recipe: easy and quick

If you are a food fan, you might have come across a good cottage pie recipe either in a hotel, in a friend's place or come up with your special recipe. This food has been there for centuries and has been a comfort food for many people. With this recipe, you will be able to make that mouth-watering dish you have always longed for. The ingredients are simple but when combined, they make that cozy meal everyone loves.

Note that shepherds and cottage pie recipe are made the same way, but you use lamb in shepherds instead of beef. All other processes remain constant. It's usually difficult to differentiate a serving of both unless you taste or you are told by the person who has prepared it.

READ ALSO: Quick, easy and tasty Kassler chops recipe in South Africa

How to make South African cottage pie recipe

To make a fancy cottage pie recipe, follow these steps:

Ingredients

• Meat: for an easy cottage pie recipe Gordon Ramsay makes, use beef
• Bone broth or beef stock
• Vegetable bullion powder
• Black pepper
• Cheese
• Salt to taste
• Thin young carrots
• Celery
• Onion
• 2 leeks

How to make cottage pie recipe: simple steps

• Add water to the frying pan up to 2 inches. Add potatoes. Cover and let it boil. Cook for about 12-15 minutes. Drain water and leave your potatoes there. Cover the pot to steam for a few minutes. Mash the potatoes gently. Add salt, pepper, sour cream, butter, milk, and cheese and stir.
• Add the ground beef in a large 12-inch skillet with sides. Add salt and pepper for seasoning. Using medium heat, cook until they turn brown. Using a spatula, break meat into small pieces as it cooks. Remove meat and some broth to a plate, and reserve some in the frying pan.
• Add carrots, onion and celery to the frying pan and saute for 5-8 minutes until they are tender. Add flour and garlic and toss until they mix. Cook for a minute. Add the beef broth, tomato paste, bay leaves and herbs and stir until they combine. Let it simmer and cook for 5 minutes. Taste to check seasonings. Remove bay leaves and stir in corn and frozen peas and cooked beef.
• Cover the top of the beef mixture with the mashed potatoes. Sprinkle the top with shredded cheddar cheese.
• Bake for 30 minutes until it starts bubbling and turns golden. Let it cook for 15 minutes. This is to allow the gravy to cool and thicken before serving.

READ ALSO: Umqombothi: How to make this popular indigenous South African beer

What goes with cottage pie?

This is a complete meal; thus, you can take it with no other serving. However, if you deem it necessary, then you can add these light servings:

• Green salad
• Green beans
• Broccoli

These will help add more taste to the dish.

Can I make cottage pie the day before?

Yes! Prepare up to a baking point. Keep it in the fridge until you need it, and when you are ready for it, bring it back to the right temperature before you start baking.

If you have leftover, you can store it in the refrigerator for up to 3-5 days while covered. However, do not store leftover beef for more than five days.

Can you freeze cottage pie?

Yes, you can freeze and have it later at your disposal. All you need to do is to put it in a freezer-safe dish for it to cool. Wrap it and store it in the freezer. It can stay for up to 2 months.

READ ALSO: How to make easy ginger biscuits in South Africa

What's the difference between shepherd's pie and cottage pie?

There is no much difference between shepherd's pie recipe and cottage pie recipes since they contain veggies, ground meat, gravy, mashed potatoes and then baked the same way. The name was used interchangeably until the 20th century when shepherd’s pie was associated with lamb. Initially, Irish cottage pie recipe used any meat.

Why is cottage pie called cottage pie?

Cottage was discovered in England back in the 18th century, making it older than shepherd’s one. It came in the picture when potatoes were regarded as food for the poor making the dish popular to the people living in small houses. In the process of trying out new dishes with potatoes, they came up with a meaty-potato-laden dish.

READ ALSO: SA impressed by "ninja's" cooking skills: "That was so entertaining"

With the above cottage pie recipe easy steps, you don’t have an excuse why you cannot cook your favourite meal. Try one of the best cottage pie recipes in the world. It is an all-weather dish thus, you can cook it and make your loved ones happy.

READ ALSO:

• Video shows BI Phakathi blessing hungry man with something to eat
• Classic South African hertzoggies recipe
• The tastiest milk tart recipe ever!

ncG1vNJzZmiaop6yp7jYZ5qoZqqWfHWFknFsZpufqcGis8Rmp6KdXaeypLXPnmSemaOuerLByJyiZ6Ckork%3D