Best ever cottage pie?

[Shadyboots23]

Any tips welcome, making one tonight and fancy a change from my usual recipe
Pretty well stocked with stuff if anyone has any secret ingredients

Chilli paste and lots of garlic. I like it to have a kick.

I usually mix a bit of mashed up carrot and swede to the mash with lots of butter and black pepper.

Bit of Worcestershire sauce on the meat part.

use beef shin instead of mince

How do you cook the beef shin please I've never tried this. Is it like mince or chunks of meat?

Beef shin looks like this. I get mine in Morrison's.

You have to cook it for about four hours (so it's not one you can prep an hour before you plan to eat) but it becomes so tender and so rich. I always use it if I'm making bolognaise too. Just on another level to mince.

I'll have to try it with shin but I've defrosted mince for tonight

A dessertspoon of tomato paste, and some dried thyme. Really gives it some added flavour.

I start with carrot, swede, celery and onion, add mince - brown - big splash of Worcestershire sauce. I also add leeks cooked slowly in butter to the mash and top with grated cheddar and browned.

A dollop of HP/brown sauce is amazing in a cottage pie. I don’t even eat brown sauce and if someone put tomato ketchup in their bolognaise I’d be horrified. But brown sauce in a cottage pie just works and is a necessity for me.

Brown the mince properly at the beginning in small amounts so it properly fries and caramelizes and releases flavour (not just boils in the excess water)

I add blitzed mushrooms to bulk out the mince (chopped are too noticeable so blitzed briefly to make a breadcrumbs texture)

A spoonful of marmite also does wonders!

Thanks @MrsDanversChickenSandwich I'm going to keep an eye out for that and try it in a bolagnaise sauce in the slow cooker

I have mushrooms that need using so that's a good shout
And yes I always usually put marmite (the XO one) in!

Half potato, half sweet potato for the mash with cheese on top.

I love home made cottage pie 😍

Try Delia smith's recipe with chess mash, it's easy and so delicious @Shadyboots23

*cheesy

I don't brown mince. I cook it with onions, white pepper , salt and a couple of oxo cubes, on a low heat in the oven fit several hours (or slow cook).

I use this recipe except I use mushrooms instead of celery.
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/cottage-pie

Not going to work for you OP as you've defrosted your mince but I sometimes make it with chopped chicken livers - delicious and cheap.

Cinnamon. I tried it once and im completely converted. Have to add cinnamon to every cottage pie now!

@islawinds that's the recipe that I use. It's delicious.

I use this recipe. I don’t include the red wine - it makes the sauce too thin. I also add two tubs of baked beans. It was something my dad always did. It adds a nice texture.

Marmite.

And cheese in the mash.

Wine and garlic do not belong in cottage pie!

Mine would be to avoid the Worcestershire Sauce, its overpowering. I like to add finely chopped mushrooms and cook the meat in the slow cooker.

They do in mine!
Marmite doesn’t belong anywhere imho. That stuff is kryptonite.

Another vote for this one. Really tasty and makes loads

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/cottage-pie