Cottage Pie.

It's been cold and icy here so yesterday when I cooked dinner I made something hearty,and though I say so myself  a pretty good Cottage Pie & a veggie version for the Memsahib to keep away the winter blues.
Cottage Pie like Spag Bol is not a quick meal, not if you want a tasty dinner anyway, it does well to cook the mince slowly before adding to the mash. I always forget the difference between Cottage & Shepherds Pie but using beef mince definitely made it cottage. Fried the onions & garlic first, added the mince & got it all cooked down a bit, added smoked paprika, parsley, chilli flakes, salt,
pepper, couple of stock cubes & water also slung in some veg in the shape of chopped peppers and carrots  & later a little soy sauce, a little Worcestershire sauce  and a squirt of tomato ketchup, I would have used tomato puree but we were out of that. Tara's was cooked in the same way but with quorn mince and afew caraway seeds. Got this all simmering away nicely & did the potatoes. Just boiled as usual, not sure what make of spud they were, then all put through a ricer, a gadget that I always thought was bit of a waste of time as surely a masher is just as good, well it isn't, I always use a ricer for mash now. Brought some decadence into the mash in the shape of some cream and general seasoning. Bunged atop the mince I left it spread quite roughly so the peaks of the potatoes  would crisp up. Half an hour or so in the oven and it was ready. I enjoyed cooking it and I certainly enjoyed eating it , as did Oliver & Tara, having said she probably couldn't eat much finished the lot! A seal of approval I think!

Mince at the top and quorn below.

Quorn Cottage Pie.

Cottage Pie.