When you’re a busy mumma to 3 small kids, sometimes you just need a quick meal, but tasty of course. A lot of shepherds pie that I’ve had in the past, seem to have too much meat and very little mash. In my family, shepherds pie is made with a ratio of 1:1. Equal amount of meat to potato, can never have too much mash?!

RECIPE FOR SHEPHERD’S PIE/COTTAGE PIE
Serves: 4 in a 13x22cm (5×9″) oven dish
Prep time: 30minutes
Cook time: 20minutes

Ingredients
1 tbsp oil
1/2 onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
500g beef mince
1 carrot, finely diced
1/4 cup peas
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp tomato paste
2 tsp stock paste (If using liquid stock,add some flour to thicken it)
A couple of pinches of mixed herb
1/2 cup Mozzarella cheese
500g potatoes, peeled & quartered
1/4 cup milk
50g butter
Salt & pepper to taste

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200C.

2. Heat oil in a pan over medium heat. Then saute  onions & garlic.

3. Meanwhile, place potatoes in a pot and cover with cold salted water. Bring to the boil over medium heat and cook until tender (10-15 minutes).

4. Add beef mince, a couple of pinches of mixed herbs and cook until mince is brown all over before adding the vegetables.

5. Once vegetables are added, put some stock, worcestershire sauce & tomato paste and cook for 10 minutes making sure to stir every few minutes.

6. Back to potatoes: Drain potatoes and return to pot. Add milk & butter then mash until smooth. Season with salt & pepper to taste.

7. In an oven dish, layer the pie filing and then mashed potatoes, and top it off with some mozzarella cheese. Bake for 20 minutes. Serve hot with some garlic bread!