Late last year I remember watching Jamie Oliver’s cooking programme “Jamie’s Ministry of Food” where he goes around teaching the art of cooking to people who ‘cant cook, wont cook’.

One week he was teaching a ‘Busy Mum’ called Emma Peckett who, like me, loves to cook but never has the time to. She made an amazing fish pie from scratch in under an hour and Jamie really impressed me with the way he had conjured up an easy recipe whilst still keeping the taste of a yummy gastro pub!

So with that theme in mind, I’m going to try a similar pie to Emma’s – not fish however as I don’t think Kian’s culinary tastebuds stretch that far just yet – something that is filling and won’t leave me raiding the biscuit cupboard later on in the night! Unfortunately it does take longer than the other recipes I’ve been uploading but believe me, it’s worth it!

Comforting cottage pie…

Serves 4
Preparation time: 30mins
Cooking time: 1hr

Ingredients

- 1tbsp oil
- 1 large onion chopped
- 2 carrots chopped
- 560g beef mince
- 1 can of chopped tomatoes
- 290ml beef stock
- 1 bay leaf
- 2tpsp tomato puree
- salt and pepper

For the mash topping:
- 1000g potatoes peeled and chopped
- 75g butter
- 55ml milk
- 2tsp wholegrain mustard
- grated cheddar to sprinkle on the top

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 190C/375F/Gas 5.
2. Heat the oil in a large pan. Add the onion and carrot and cook over a medium heat for 5 minutes until soft.
3. Add the minced beef and cook for 3 minutes to brown.
4. Add the tomatoes, purée, beef stock and bay leaf.
5. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Season.
6. Make the mash: boil the potatoes in water until soft. Drain and mash with the butter and milk. Mix in the wholegrain mustard and season with salt and pepper.
7. Spoon the meat into an ovenproof dish. Top with the mash and bake for 30 minutes until golden brown.
Hectic Mum top tip: If you want to make the mash extra tasty then add some grated cheddar cheese to the potato and mash together.