A cottage pie is a wonderfully comforting thing, and as it’s very easy on the purse strings it would regularly turn up on our table when I was a kid. A traditional dish of minced beef with a mashed potato topping, it has always been a favourite of mine, though I am also quite partial to a shepherd’s pie, which is basically the same dish but made with minced lamb instead of beef.
On a day when I needed comfort with fewer carbs, I decided to combine two of my favourite dishes by topping my cottage pie with cauliflower cheese instead of mashed potatoes, and a new favourite was born. This recipe can serve 4 people or more with extra vegetables.
Low-Carb Cottage Pie
A classic cottage pie with a cauliflower cheese topping
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 medium onion chopped
- 5 medium chestnut mushrooms sliced
- 1 garlic clove crushed
- 1 tsp mixed herbs
- 500 g minced beef
- 1 tbsp tomato puree
- 1 tbsp plain flour heaped
- 1 beef stock cube
- 1 head cauliflower in florets
- 1 large handful mature Cheddar grated
Instructions
- Warm the olive oil over a medium heat in a large casserole pan or saucepan, then gently fry the onions until softened but not browned. Add the crushed garlic and mixed herbs, stir for a moment and as soon as they are getting fragrant turn up the heat and add the mushrooms. Stir to avoid the garlic and herbs from burning, then as soon as the mushrooms are starting to brown along the edges add the mince. Give it all another stir and let the mince brown on all sides. Stir in the tomato puree.
- Turn the heat down to med-low and stir in the flour and stock cube; it will immediately thicken any meat juices in the pan and become quite gloopy. Add enough boiling water to make a gravy, again stirring it through the mince; the flour and stock cube will create a nice thick sauce which is what you want for a pie like this. Allow it to simmer for a couple of minutes then test for seasoning – I would definitely add pepper at this stage but you might find there’s enough salt in the stock cube that you don’t need any more.
- While the mince is browning, bring a pan of lightly salted water to the boil and cook the cauliflower florets until tender. Drain them, then return them to the pan, mash them with a potato masher and stir through most of the grated cheese and season to taste – again the cheese is probably salty enough but a generous amount of pepper works wonders.
- Heat the oven to 180c. Place the mince in a deep dish and top with the cauliflower cheese. Sprinkle over the remaining grated Cheddar then bake it for about 20 minutes or until it is bubbling hot and the cheese is golden and crispy.
- Once it’s out of the oven, let it rest for a couple of minutes until it has stopped bubbling, and serve with seasonal vegetables.
Notes
Magickal Properties
Garlic – protection, prosperity, healing, luck
Oregano – happiness, protection, prosperity, healing
Pepper – protection, banish negativity
Rosemary – Purification, healing, clarity of mind, psychic powers,
Salt – purification, cleansing
Thyme – psychic powers, love, divination, courage, purification, inner calm
Variations
You could add frozen mixed vegetables to the cottage pie, just stir them through once the mince is browned and they will defrost in the gravy; a bag of frozen veg is often cheaper than fresh veg so makes a great budget meal. Another way of making this dish go further is to add a large handful of red lentils. I always keep some in my larder because they are a great way of making a meal cheaper and healthier. I add them when I add the mince, and they start to soften up in the meat juices, just make sure they’re tender before you assemble the pie as nobody wants crunchy bits. By using lentils you can not only save on mince, but you’re adding valuable protein, B vitamins and fibre to the dish, and once they are cooked the lentils are indistinguishable from the mince so fussy eaters won’t notice. Oh, and if you are cooking for adults and want posh gravy, simply add a generous splash of red wine or port to the floury mince and stirring that through before topping up with the boiling water.
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