English Cottage Pie With Cheddar and Parsnip Mash

Submitted by HappyBunny

"I made this last night and it went down a treat! The parsnips were a great addition, as well as giving an extra vegetable to your kiddies instead of just potatoes. My daughters cleaned their plates and have asked for it again tonight. I made the mince mixture in advance which cut down cooking time in the evening. You can make it even more nutritious by adding some more diced vegetables. From Delicious magazine"

 

• Ready In: 1hr 20mins
• Ingredients: 13
• Serves: 4

ingredients

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 large carrot, diced
• 500 g beef mince
• 1 tablespoon tomato puree
• 300 ml beef stock, hot
• 1 1⁄2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 3 -5 fresh thyme leaves

• FOR THE CHEDDAR PARSNIP MASH

• 350 g floury potatoes
• 350 g parsnips
• 3 tablespoons 1% low-fat milk
• 1⁄4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 50 g mature cheddar cheese, grated

directions

1. Preheat the oven to 180ºC/fan160ºC/gas 4.
2. Heat the oil in a pan over medium heat and add the onion and carrot and cook, stirring for 5 minutes.
3. Add the mince, turning the heat up and cook for 5 minutes until it is completely browned; Add the tomato puree, stir for 1 minute and add the beef stock, Worcestershire sauce and thyme.
4. Bring it to the boil, cover and simmer for 20 minutes; Uncover and cook for a further 5-10 minutes until most of the liquid has been absorbed; Check the seasoning and then spoon into a 2 litre ovenproof dish.
5. For the mash, cut the parsnips and potatoes into medium sized pieces and put into a large pan of cold salted water; Bring to the boil and simmer for 15 minutes or until tender; Drain and return to the pan for 30 seconds to get rid of any excess moisture; Mash with the milk and nutmeg, season and set aside.
6. Spoon the mash onto the mince; Rough it up with a fork and sprinkle with the cheese.
7. Bake for 25 minutes, until the mash is golden and crisp in places.

Reviews

[kiwidutch]

We liked this. DH was a little so-so about the meat mixture but particularly liked the parsnip mash topping. I didn't mind the meat mixture but agreed with DH that it needed "something" extra as the falvour of the herbs was bearly noticable and it was a little bland. We both would have put garlic in it too as we are garlic fans. I used home made beef stock and lots of cheddar cheese on the top. For the rest I stuck to the recipe and yes, more veggies would be a nice addition to this too. Please see my rating system, a lovely 3 stars for a tasty weekday meal, but one that we would very much like to radically increase the herbs in next time. Thanks !

 

[akempffer]

Scrumptious. I didn't have any potatoes, but instead used an enormous rutabaga (swede). Plus, I added jerusalem artichokes to the filling. I also used an excellent organic artisan cheddar and the whole thing turned out amazing.

 

[Molly53]

Really brought memories of childhood back for baboo. He really enjoyed it.

 

[ltdsaloon16r]

Comfort food at it's finest, I like the added parsnip..and only told my relatively non vegetable eating son that I got 2 in his belly! Thanks for sharing.