Braised Beef Cottage Pie
Tender beef mingled with aromatic herbs and vegetables is slow cooked to perfection in rich red wine, and topped with a layer of cheesy mashed potatoes.
How long will it take?
2 ½ hours
What’s the serving size?
Serves 6
What do I need?
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 2 rashers middle bacon, diced
- 1 kg diced beef
- Salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1 large brown onion, diced
- 2 carrots, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ tsp dried thyme
- 1 tsp rosemary leaves
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tbsp Worcerstershire sauce
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 2 tbsp plain flour
- 500 mL red wine, divided
- 500 mL beef stock
- 1 ½ cups frozen peas
- 1 kg Dutch Cream potatoes, peeled and diced
- ¼ cup unsalted butter
- ½ cup milk
- 1 cup cheddar cheese, grated
- ¼ cup Parmesan cheese, grated
How do I make it?
- Add olive oil to a large ovenproof pan over medium high heat. Add bacon and cook, stirring frequently, until the bacon is brown and crisp. Remove bacon from pan and set aside. Increase heat to high.
- Season diced beef with salt and pepper. Add beef to the pan and brown on all sides, then remove it from the pan and set aside on a plate. Reduce heat to medium and add onion, and carrots and cook until softened. Next toss in garlic, thyme, rosemary and bay leaf and cook, stirring for 1 minute.
- Add Worcestershire sauce, tomato paste, flour and 2 tablespoons wine to the pan and stir to combine. Cook for 1 – 2 minutes or until the sauce has thickened slightly, then add remaining wine, stock, and reserved beef and bacon and stir to combine. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to gentle simmer. Cover with a lid and cook for 2 hours, stirring occasionally, until the beef is fork tender.
- Make topping by bringing a large pot of water to the boil. Add potatoes and cook until tender. Drain and return to the pot. Add butter and milk and mash with a potato masher until smooth. Season with salt and pepper and set aside to cool slightly.
- Preheat oven to 180C.
- When beef is cooked remove the pan from the heat and shred the beef in the pan using 2 forks. Add peas and stir to combine.
- Spoon mashed potato over beef, then sprinkle with cheese. Bake, uncovered, for 10 – 15 minutes, or until the potatoes are hot and the cheese has melted.
