best cottage or shepherd's pie recipe?

[Toowittoowoo]

I am currently eating down the freezer in advance of stocking it up with meals before DC2 arrives. This was really useful after DD arrived and, although I would never cook it that often normally as I find it a bit of a faff, the cottage pies were really handy. I put veg in with the meat sauce and with the mash potato on top as well it felt like a really nutrious and filling meal without the need to cook anything else.

However, as I don't cook it very often I've never been entirely convinced by my recipe. It is a bit bland and sometimes a bit runny. Does anyone have a tried and tested cottage or shepherd's pie (which includes veg) that I could try?

Oh yeah and it can't be too expensive either... I googled shepherd pie recipes and came up with loads that used chucks of lamb. That is probably a bit fancy for what I'm looking for especially as my 3 yr old likes mince so I think it is safest just to stick to lamb mince or beef mince!

I put red wine, red onion, rosemary, black pepper, thyme, a little balsamic vinegar, mushrooms, carrots and a little water in the slow cooker and cook on medium for 6 hours. An hour from the end I add peas and gravy granules

My mash is made from potato and cauliflower with butter and cheese

No one has ever complained :)

Nigel Slater shepherds pie with spiced parsnip mash is divine.

Use parsnips and spuds for the mash (I use half and half), and stir in some spiced onion mix into the mash.

(spiced onion mix made with sliced onion, cooked until soft in a tiny splash of olive oil, then add a pinch of ground cumin, a teaspoon of ground coriander and a tablespoon of garam masala).

Pile that on top of your lamb mixture in a dish (minced lamb, diced carrot, chopped onion, bay leaf, tom puree, dried thyme, hot stock -any type, bit of flour to thicken, seasoning + cooked for 25 mins on hob)

Then bake 25 mins on 190 degrees.

We love it!

I cook 500g of minced beef and add very finely diced and fried red onion, carrot, parsnip and mushrooms, sometimes courgette too. I also like to sneak in some celeriac or celery but SDH hates it and if I get the proportions wrong he notices and grumbles. Cooked with a beef stock cube and a very small amount of water (100ml maybe) with a few dried herbs - especially thyme, a splash of worcestershire sauce if we have any and some garlic puree (not too much) and black pepper.

Mash floury spuds with a pinch of grated nutmeg and some milk, put on top and grill if in a hurry or bake in a low oven if not.

Never runny, always delicious. Serve with peas.