Meat mains
Cheesy bean cottage pie
Rich, aromatic meat and beans topped with fluffy mash. A tin of baked beans is a good, easy way of making a cottage pie go a little further. It should be one that the kids will like. Eat with savoy cabbage or kale, or chilli and herb crushed swede and carrot.
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp oil for frying, e.g. vegetable or sunflower
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 450g minced beef
- 1 tbsp tomato puree
- splash of Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 150ml water
- 400g tin baked beans
- 1kg potatoes, peeled and roughly chopped
- 50g butter
- splash of milk
- 50g Cheddar cheese, grated
- salt and pepper
Method
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Step 1
Preheat oven to 200°C/Gas 6.
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Step 2
Heat the oil in a large saucepan and add the onion. Gently fry for about 8-10 minutes, until translucent. Turn up the heat, add the mince and brown all over. Add the tomato puree, Worcestershire sauce, thyme and water.
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Step 3
Bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the beans, stir to combine and season.
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Step 4
Transfer to a baking dish. While cooking the mince, cook the potatoes in a large pan of salted boiling water until they are just soft (about 8 minutes).
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Step 5
Drain, then mash with the butter and a splash of milk. Season to taste and spread over the mince, using a fork to fluff up the mash.
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Step 6
Sprinkle over the cheese and bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes, until the cheese has melted and turned golden, and the mash is starting to crisp on top.
