Recipe: Cottage Pie

We love cottage pie for dinner with some fresh green veggies. Most folks call it shepherd’s pie. Technically shepherd’s pie is made with lamb and cottage pie is made with beef.

The ingredients are naturally gluten free and I use a gluten free gravy to complete it. I have two favourite cookery books that I use for the recipe, one is The English Kitchen and the other is The Dairy Book of Home Cooking. This book published in 1977.  I’ve had my copy since 1979 when we lived in England and it has been very well used.

Ingredients:

• about 450 grams lean ground mince
• about 350 grams of mashed potatoes
• chopped onion to taste
• chopped celery to taste
• 1/2 cup of veggies (peas, carrots, green beans or combo)
• gluten free gravy

Add celery and onion to ground beef and boil in water to cook. Add veggies towards the end of cooking.

Drain, saving some of the water to make the gravy. Make a layer of the ground mince in a baking dish. Add the mashed potatoes to the top and smooth with a fork. Place under the broiler in the oven until crispy.

Serve with another veggie of your choice. I’ve used peas, french cut green beans or brussel sprouts. Top with gravy and serve.

British and Irish claim the origins of this type of meal. In the 18th century cottage pie was made after the traditional roast dinner was cooked. The leftovers were made into the pie. Is it really a pie if it doesn’t have crust? Potatoes were the affordable ingredient to the Irish farm workers, who lived in cottages, hence the name cottage pie. In the 19th century shepherds started using lamb in place of red meat and it started to be called shepherds pie. The names are now frequently interchanged but more often than not it is called shepherds pie.

My cooking is always gluten free. Find a yummy recipe to cook.