Individual Cottage Pies

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 carrot, peeled and chopped
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp chopped Rosemary (or 2 tsp of dried Rosemary)
• 500g of lean mince meat
• 1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed
• 1 tbsp tomato purée
• 150ml low sodium beef stock (1 stock cube in 150ml of water, or make your own beef stock)
• 125g of mushrooms, quartered
• 2tsp of Worcestershire sauce
• 400g tinned chopped tomatoes
• 550g potatoes, peeled and boiled
• 2 tbsp milk
• 30g butter
• A pinch of salt and pepper for seasoning

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees/gas mark 6)
2. Heat the olive oil in a large pan, add the mince meat and fry for around 4 minutes or until there is no pink left.  Stir constantly.  Add the onion, carrot, rosemary and garlic, fry for 3-5 minutes.
3. Add the mushrooms, beef stock, Worcestershire sauce, tomato purée and tinned tomatoes.
4. Bring to the boil then reduce to a simmer for 20 minutes.  Season with a pinch of salt and pepper if needed.
5. While the meat and veg are cooking have the potatoes on to boil, boil for 15-20 minutes or until soft.
6. Drain the potatoes in a large colander and tip them back into the saucepan.
7. Put the milk and butter into a cup and stick it in the microwave for 1 minute.
8. Add the butter/milk mixture to the potatoes gradually as you mash them.
9. For the next step you will need 4 individual ramekins.  If you don’t have these, you can just make one large cottage pie.  Add the meat and veg mixture to the ramakins/casserole dish.  Top each individual ramekin with ¼ of the mashed potatoes.
10. Bake the pies/pie for 25-30 minutes, or until they are golden and bubbling.  You can stick them under the grill for a few minutes to get an extra crispy top.
11. Serve with vegetables such as broccoli, peas, sweetcorn ect.