Sometimes you just need a good comforting meal and a favourite in our house has to be cottage pie or shepherd's pie. To keep my lot guessing I do like to make changes to this dish. So far we have enjoyed my Marmite cottage pie, venison cottage pie, butternut squash topped cottage pie and a curried cottage pie which I am yet to blog! I love how versatile this dish is, it can be adapted to suit all tastes.
Today's cottage pie contains low fat steak mince, fresh vegetables and lentils for extra goodness which also act as a fantastic thickener for the sauce.
This is what I did...
Beef and Lentil Cottage Pie
Ingredients
400g lean beef steak mince
150g red lentils
1 onion, chopped
1 leek, chopped
2 lg carrots, cubed
4 savoy cabbage leaves, chopped
1 head of broccoli, chopped
1 x 400g tin of chopped tomatoes
800mls beef stock
2tbsp Marmite
750g potatoes
2tbsp butter
100g grated cheese
Method
1 - Peel and chop the potatoes and place in a pan of water and bring to the boil, simmer for 20 minutes or until soft
2 - Place the mince in a large saute pan and gently dry fry over a medium to high heat
3 - Add the onions and leeks and fry for 5 minutes
4 - Add the cubed carrots, chopped cabbage and fry for a further 5 minutes
5 - Place the chopped broccoli in the pan along with the chopped tomatoes and beef stock, stir thoroughly and bring to the boil
6 - Stir in the Marmite and lentils, reduce the heat, cover the pan and simmer for 20 minutes or until the meat is thoroughly cooked and the lentils are soft
7 - Once the potatoes are softened, drain and mash, stirring in the butter
8 - Transfer the meat and lentil sauce to an oven proof dish, top with the mashed potatoes and cover with the grated cheese of your choice
9 - Place under a high grill for 5 minutes or until the cheese is bubbling and starting to brown off
This is such a good, comforting meal and one that the whole family loved.
If I ever need a meal that is going to please the whole family and one that they all say "yay!" when I dish it up, it is cottage pie, of any variation and this was no exception.
Best of all, with a meal like this, I can make sure that there is leftovers for my lunch the following day.
I will definitely be making the curried cottage pie in the near future so keep an eye out for the recipe soon!
This is such a good, comforting meal and one that the whole family loved.
If I ever need a meal that is going to please the whole family and one that they all say "yay!" when I dish it up, it is cottage pie, of any variation and this was no exception.
Best of all, with a meal like this, I can make sure that there is leftovers for my lunch the following day.
I will definitely be making the curried cottage pie in the near future so keep an eye out for the recipe soon!
Enjoy x
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This looks so good. I love that you’ve used lentils as well as mince - I must give it a try. Cottage pie is the perfect comfort food for this cold weather x
ReplyDeleteI think red lentils are a great thickener for the mince in the pie and must make it more economical too. This sounds delicious and I just wish my family would eat mash so I could make dishes like this! Thanks for sharing with #CookOnceEatTwice x
ReplyDeleteThis looks lovely Kirsty. I think that lentils are great in a cottage pie, and I often make a veggie curried shepherd's pie - so good!
ReplyDeleteLentils are brilliant for bulking up pies and stews and are definitely fantastic as thickener. Gorgeous, comforting pie perfection! Love it! x
ReplyDeleteOooh we love shepherd's pie in our house but we hardly ever have cottage pie - you have inspired me to make one soon!! Thanks for linking it up to #CookBlogShare :-) Eb x
ReplyDeleteSo funny: I'm making shepherd's pie this weekend, what with St. Paddy's Day just around the corner. Using lentils as a thickener is pure genius! (Not to mention that it ramps up the health factor.)
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