Cottage Pie

For my cozy fall recipe, I'm suggesting the Cottage Pie I made last week.  This was based on a recipe in my new cookbook - Love Welcome Serve by Amy Hannon.  However, I simplified it quite a bit so I decided to type it out here.

Look at her gorgeous photo in the individual sized casserole dish.  She also used a puff pastry on top of the mashed potatoes.  Since this was a simple weeknight meal for us AND the puff pastry adds a gazillion calories, I opted to omit that.  I also used instant mashed potatoes instead of homemade.  And I made the recipe for 4 using 1 pound of ground beef instead of 1.5 pounds for 6 servings.

This dish may not look completely appetizing in pictures, but let me tell you this has to be one of my favorite "comfort foods" I've ever made.  And everyone in the family liked it.

Here's the basic idea for the recipe.

Brown ground beef, onion, and garlic.  Add fresh carrots and frozen peas.

Drain some of the fat, but leave some to make a gravy with beef stock, flour and tomato paste.  

Put in a baking dish.  Cover with mashed potatoes and cheese.

Bake for about 30 minutes...

and enjoy.  Let me tell you - this dish is even better as leftovers!

COTTAGE PIE

Instant mashed potatoes for 4 servings
OR   

Homemade mashed potatoes using about 1.5 lbs of potatoes 

1 pound ground beef

1/2 medium onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves

1/2 cup - 1 cup diced carrot

1/2 cup - 1 cup frozen peas

1/4 cup flour

1 can beef stock/broth 

2 Tablespoons tomato paste

Salt

Pepper

1 Tablespoon fresh rosemary or 1 teaspoon dried rosemary

1/2 cup shredded cheese

1.  Set oven to 375.

2.  In a large skillet, brown the beef with the onion.  Spoon out about half the fat.  Add the garlic and carrots, cooking until tender.  Stir in the peas.

3.  Shake the flour over the mixture and stir well.  Add the beef stock and tomato paste.  Season with salt, pepper, and rosemary.  Simmer for a few minutes to thicken sauce.

4.  Spoon mixture into baking dish.  Cover with mashed potatoes and cheese

5.  Bake for 25-30 minutes.

Click here for the printable Google Doc recipe.

Click here to see the recipe on Amy Hannon's Arkansas cooking tv show.