
britishdinnerServes 4
Cottage pie with lentils
The British classic, half lean mince and half lentils under a golden sweet-potato mash.
Cottage pie has been Sunday comfort in Britain for two hundred years. Letting lentils share the base with lean mince keeps all the gravy-soaked depth while gently lowering the saturated fat — and the sweet potato mash browns like a sunset.
Ingredients
- Lean beef mince (5% fat)250g
- Green or brown lentils400g tin
- Sweet potatoes700g
- Carrots2
- Onion1
- Celery2 sticks
- Tomato purée2 tbsp
- Beef stock (low salt)400ml
- Worcestershire sauce1 tbsp
- Dried mixed herbs1 tsp
- Frozen peas150g
Method
- 1Brown the mince in a wide pan; add the onion, carrot and celery and soften 5 minutes.
- 2Stir in the purée, herbs and Worcestershire sauce, then the stock and drained lentils. Simmer 20 minutes until rich; add the peas at the end.
- 3Meanwhile boil the sweet potatoes until tender and mash with black pepper.
- 4Spoon the filling into a baking dish, crown with the mash, and rough up the top with a fork.
- 5Bake at 200°C for 25 minutes until burnished at the edges.
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