Cottage Pie

Name: Cottage Pie
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 1 h
Ingredients: 4 cups mashed potatoes; 1 ½ lbs ground beef, 85% lean; 1 onion, small diced; 2 carrots, small diced; 2 garlic cloves, minced; 2 tbsp unbleached all purpose flour; 1 tbsp tomato paste; 1 c beef stock, (we prefer low sodium); 2 tsp Worcestershire; 1 tsp thyme sprigs; ½ tsp salt (or to taste)

Cottage Pie is a great way to celebrate fall and use up any extra vegetables and even leftover mashed potatoes in your refrigerator. This is a fun dish with many varieties, but for our version, we're sticking with a simple filling that is easy to make!

Ingredients

4 cups mashed potatoes
1 ½ lbs ground beef, 85% lean
1 onion, small diced
2 carrots, small diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbsp unbleached all purpose flour
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 c beef stock, (we prefer low sodium)
2 tsp Worcestershire
1 tsp thyme sprigs
½ tsp salt (or to taste)

Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 1 hour

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 400°F.
Saute your beef over medium-high heat until browned, 7-10 min. Remove the beef from the skillet.
Add the vegetables** and garlic to the beef juices in the pan. Cook until soft, 7-10 min.
Reduce the heat to medium and add the tomato paste and flour. Saute until the flour is completely moistened.
Return the cooked beef to pan. Add the stock, Worcestershire sauce, and thyme. Simmer 5-10 min, until the gravy thickens.
Taste the mixture and season with salt and pepper to taste.
Transfer the meat mixture into a greased, 8x8 baking dish. Spoon or pipe the mashed potatoes over the meat mixture.
Place the dish in the oven at 400F and cook for 20-30 min or until the top is golden and the filling is bubbly.
Let stand 5-10 min before serving.