Cottage Pie

Serves 4

1 large onion, 1 carrot, half a green pepper,1 tablespoon of oil, 1Ib minced beef, 9 floz water, 1 teaspoon of marmite (This adds good flavour),  4 teaspoons of lamb gravy granules, 1 oz plain flour, 1 oz margarine.

Mashed Potato

2 Ib potatoes, 2 fl oz milk, 1 oz margarine.

Method

Peel and chop the onion and carrot very small. Halve and seed the pepper and do likewise.

Heat the oil in a large frying pan and cook the onion, carrot, pepper, and meat until golden brown on a medium heat. This should take about 10 minutes. Stir the marmite into hot water from the kettle so that it melts, and add to the mixture and simmer for about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, peel the potatoes and cut into medium size chunks. Boil until tender for about 20 minutes. Maris Piper is a good potato for mash, but use whatever you fancy. Drain well and return to the pan adding the milk and margarine. I find mashing them on a very low heat on the hob works great because it eliminates any water, but you must keep mashing and stirring else they will catch and burn. Take off the heat after a minute or so. Fluffy and smooth is what you’re aiming for.

Preheat the oven to 180 C/350 F/Gas 4

Boil the kettle and add enough water to  4 teaspoons of lamb gravy granules in a jug or bowl. You need a medium gravy consistency, not too liquid. Add this to the meat and veg mixture and simmer for another few minutes. The consistency should be quite thick. Spoon this mixture into a dish and add the mashed potato on the top. Bake in the oven for around 20 minutes until it browns.

If you notice with the picture of mine, I tend to use a spoon to make the potato into peaks so that it browns quite crispy in the oven. I must say it does taste quite wonderful. Yum!!