Homecooked in your new home
Nothing beats a good home cooked meal. My mum’s speciality was always a grubby Shepherds / Cottage Pie, so I thought I’d try and recreate this at uni to bring a little piece of home to my McComb home. If you’re feeling a little bit homesick, or just thinking of doing some home cooking then give this recipe a try. It’s simple, quick and cheap! You can even freeze the leftover portions for another day!
Challenge
I thought I would add a little extra challenge when I made this dish. I decided I would make it all, using the kitchenette in my Gold McComb room. This just goes to show that you can achieve a great finish on your dishes, whilst being in the comfort of your own room!
Prep Time: 15 minutes / Cook Time: 30 minutes
Ingredients
- 1 whole onion
- Tin of chopped carrots
- 500g Minced Meat Lamb / Beef
- 2 Large potatoes
- Bisto Gravy Granules
- Milk
- Butter
- Mixed Herbs
- Salt & Pepper
- Sunflower Oil
Method
1. Start by chopping your onion, depending how you like them, chop them thinly or leave them quite chunky. Add these to a frying pan with a little bit of Sunflower Oil.
2. Open your tin of chopped carrots and add them to the frying pan. Pop on the hob on a moderate / medium temperature.
3. Add the Minced Meat to the pan and begin to brown it off. Keep stirring to make sure nothing cooks to the bottom of the pan!
4. Peel and chop your potatoes into small chunks. Add to a medium sized pan and fill with water so that it is covering the potatoes. Bring to the boil.
5. Keep stirring the meat, carrots and onions on a low temperature to keep them warm. Ensure that all the meat is cooked and brown.
6. Using a fork, carefully lift the lid from the potatoes and test to see if the potatoes are done. If you can insert the fork quite smoothly into the potatoes, then drain the pan and begin to mash the potatoes.
7. Once the potatoes are mashed and there are no lumps, add some milk and butter to the mashed potatoes. This will vary depending on how creamy you prefer to have your mash. Ensure the milk and butter is fully mixed into the mash.
8. Using the Bisto Gravy Granules, mix a small amount of gravy to your meat to add a little bit of sauce.
9. Add the contents of your frying pan to a large serving dish. Spread out the contents so that it forms a base. Add your mashed potatoes on top of the meat base and using a fork, fluff it out so that it has indents along the edges.
10. Pop under the grill for around 30 minutes, to brown off the top and form a ‘crust’. Be careful when removing from the oven as the dish will be very hot.
11. Add some cheese to the top if you wish, and then serve. Don’t forget you can always save some of the other portions and freeze for another night!
Add some cheese to the top if you wish, and then serve. Don’t forget you can always save some of the other portions and freeze for another night!
