This veggie mince cottage pie is a real cheats meal. I’m all for taking my time in the kitchen to develop deep flavours within a dish, using fresh ingredients to build those layers of taste but sometimes life just gets in the way and you need to use certain ingredients that we may frown upon in this crazy world of ‘cooking perfection.’ I’ve made it meat-free so this dish is perfect for meat are Mondays but if you simply must have the meat then feel free to use lamb mince.
I mean, the stuff I’m doing here is hardly sinful. We’re talking about using ready-made mash instead of making your own and using a powdered gravy for the sauce but these things have been created to literally make our lives easier and I promise you, no-one will know. Not that you should care.
This dish serves 4 and takes about 15 mins to prepare and roughly 1 hour to cook.
- butter, olive oil & salt and pepper
- one onion – finely chopped
- 2 sticks of celery – finely chopped
- 1 carrot – finely chopped
- 2 cloves of garlic – freshly grated
- fresh herbs – I used rosemary and thyme
- 300g veggie mince – I used Quorn
- 1 teaspoon tomato puree
- 1/2 tin (200ml) chopped tomatoes
- 1/2 litre vegetable stock (with 4 teaspoons Bisto gravy powder stirred in.)
- 100ml white wine (I used leftover Prosecco cos I’m fancy innit…)
- 100g frozen peas
- 1 pack ready made potato mash
- 1 pack ready made swede and carrot mash
- 100g cheddar cheese – grated
I’m using my 30cm Oval Baking Dish from Peugeot-Saveurs. Pre-heat the oven to 180C fan.
time to cook
Melt a little butter and a drizzle of olive oil in a pan, then throw in the onion, carrot and celery. Sauté over a medium heat for 5 mins, then stir in the herbs and garlic and sauté for another 5 mins, stirring regularly so it doesn’t burn.
Add the veggie mince and fry off with the veg for another few mins, then stir in the tomato puree, chopped tomatoes, stock and wine. Let the whole thing come to a boil, then stir in the frozen peas. Turn the heat down to low and let the whole pan gently simmer away for about 15 mins.
Meanwhile, add the two types of mash and cheese to a bowl and mix together with a little salt and pepper.
Pour the cottage pie mix into your oven-proof dish and carefully spoon the mash mix on top. Fork over as much as you can and then bake in the oven for 30 mins or until gloriously golden.
For more pie recipes, check these out on Dom in the Kitchen.
Eat and oof course, enjoy!
Yumo