to say that cottage pie is NOT a “weekday meal”

[RiddleMeThis2018]

Cottage pie is delicious. I know how to make it, but sometimes I like to look at a recipe online, to make sure I don’t put too much tomato in by mistake (disappointing, not to be recommended). Almost ALL the recipes say “delicious week-night supper” or similar. This is NOT a weeknight supper!! I couldn’t do it yesterday because the DCs and I got back from swimming too late. I’m not even working today and I had to psych myself up to it. The mince takes 50 mins to simmer, and that’s after all the chopping. Then there’s 20 mins in the oven assuming you time the potatoes right. And then the washing up!

I don’t blame cottage pie. I blame the website writers who want to make me think I should just whip this up on a Thursday when I get in from work. AIBU?

[LoafofSellotape]

Mine goes in the oven for at least 15 mins to get crispy on top.

[IamPickleRick]

Er yeah I can’t eat a jar of white sauce, I am very iffy about jars of white stuff

[RiddleMeThis2018]

YABU for putting tomato in a cottage pie
About a tablespoon of tomato purée, that’s it.

[LadyRannaldini]

You can bake the potatoes and mash the innards if you wish. What defines a 'weekday meal?
When I was working full time I would do batches of mince, onion, tomatoes and freeze them, I could them turn that into spag sauce, chilli, shepherd's pie quickly. Someone else, having seen St Delia, froze batches of mashed potato too!

[gamerchick]

What on earth is "supper"

Really? Breakfast, dinner, tea, supper

[PCohle]

Are you attempting to create cardboard made of pulverised meat?

No, I just like meat to be nice and tender. I can't imagine mince being anything but grisly and chewy after only half an hour.

[RiddleMeThis2018]

What on earth is "supper" ?
Ah c’mon.

[NoSauce]

If course it is! Use frozen chopped onions and brown while the potatoes are boiling, throw in mince etc and assemble!

[DatsunCogs]

@MrsBailey2019 you have Yorkshire puddings and gravy with cottage pie?! The carbs are on the top already and the gravy is the meat juice from the mince...

[Sissy79]

I actually thought that long simmering is for the benefit of making tomatoes richer, or meat tender. It’s not totally necessary for mince. Or a cottage pie with only tomato purée.

[LoafofSellotape]

Gravy and Yorkshires are lovely with cottage pie imo.

[LaurieMarlow]

You do if you want it to taste nice!

I don’t agree it makes any difference to good quality mince, which then will get further cooking as ‘pie’ in the oven.

It is important if you use chunks of slow cook beef.

[Wodkavodka]

If I get home at 6, which I think is normal for working people, how is cooking a 50 minute meal suitable for a young family? So they eat at 7? I'm a reheat person in the week.

[BertrandRussell]

Actually, if you’re cooking and feel it needs something and you don’t know what, a squirt of ketchup sometimes works. Or Worcester sauce. Or a teaspoon of marmite.

[fairweathercyclist]

Takes too long for me, I often make it at the weekend. About 1 hour 15 from start to finish, slightly less if I use lazy garlic rather than peeling and chopping real garlic. Too long for a weekday meal. I'm with you OP.

And how do potatoes take 10 minutes to do? They need 20 to be soft enough to mash.

[LoafofSellotape]

And I also use a dash of tomato puree.

[Judystilldreamsofhorses]

I always let mince simmer for a couple of hours, whether that's for chilli, lasagne, or cottage pie - so to me it's not a weekday dinner in terms of making/eating on the day.

[adriennewillfly]

My super quick version:
Fry onion til translucent (frozen chopped onions), add some garlic (frozen chopped garlic), brown the mince, add some tomato paste, pour in some ready made beef gravy out of a packet, worcestershire sauce, and simmer for a few minutes. In the mean time, defrost some frozen mash in the microwave. Add some peas and carrots to the mince, then chuck it in a dish, top with mash and a few knobs of butter and put it under the grill.

You can get that in the oven in 15 to 20 minutes, then 5 to 10 minutes under the grill.

[pastabest]

I often work a night ahead so what I'm cooking that night gets eaten the day after.

so e.g mon night I would cook the mince and onions and then put it in the casserole dish in the fridge. Tue evening I put frozen or fresh mash on top (much easier to do on cold mince) and it goes in the oven for 30 mins.

While the cottage pie is cooking I'm making the ragu for a lasagne which simmers into the evening. Once cooled I layer up the lasagne and it goes in the fridge ready to go straight in the oven on Tue night, and so on.

Obviously we also do a mixture of quick and easy stuff like stir fries as well during the week.

[RiftGibbon]

Weekday is fine, if you don't have other things to do. I'm veggie so make it with quorn and sometimes throw in some lentils. I don't often put tomato in it.
Alternatively, I use leftover chilli and chuck mash on top of that. It's nearly the same.

[outsho]

I don’t eat meat but make one with quorn mince and it definitely is a week night meal, so is lasagne.

[LonelyTiredandLow]

I batch cook bolognese and freeze. That way you just have to peel/boil/mash the potatoes and add cheese before a quick bake . Also means you can do spag bol/con carne/cottage pie with minimal faff.

[RiddleMeThis2018]

I'm vegetarian, but the only cottage pie we used to have was on day three of the Sunday roast. Day two was cold meat and fried potatoes. Day three was shepherd's or cottage pie. No mince involved
This is exactly what my mum used to do. If it was roast beef or lamb at the weekend you could guarantee cottage or shepherds (not my favourite) pie during the week. We’re abroad at the moment, and roasting beef and lamb isn’t that easy to come by.

[Katinski]

Riddle, "supper' as an evening meal concept was, I think, introduced to us by Nigella, I think, who used to make 'simple suppers' eaten in the kitchen round a spectacularly large kitchen table. With wine

As you do!

[Frogarmy]

So what does everyone eat as a "weekday" meal?