Luscious Dish

Ingredients 

Cottage Pie Filling 

 600 g lean ground beef or 600 g cooked beef, shredded
2 onions, peeled and diced
1 large carrots, peeled and finely diced or 1 large cooked carrot, diced
1 ounce butter or 1 ounce dripping
cooked peas (optional)
1 teaspoon dried herbs or 1 -2 tablespoon fresh mixed herbs, chopped
1 tablespoon flour
1 tablespoon tomato puree
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
250 ml beef stock (OR 250 ml red wine mixed with 2 teaspoons sugar) (optional)
salt
pepper

Cottage Pie Topping

1 kg potato, peeled and cut into small even sized pieces
2 large leeks, cleaned and finely shredded or 2 large cooked leeks, sliced into rings
2 ounces butter
2 -4 tablespoons milk
4 ounces mature farmhouse cheddar cheese, grated
salt
pepper

To make the pie filling:.

Fry the onions and carrots if mistreatment, within the butter or beef dripping till they're soft.
Add the minced/chopped beef and cook for concerning ten to twenty minutes or till the onion and carrot have bronzed and also the minced beef has taken on some color and is firm. (It conjointly depends if you're mistreatment hard-boiled or raw minced beef.).
Season well with salt and pepper, then add the mixed herbs. Stir within the flour, and blend well.
Mix the tomato puree and sauce with the stock and add it to the meat mixture, transfer it all to cookery purpose. Simmer till the stock has reduced by about a 3rd, add the peas if mistreatment and start up the warmth. put aside while you create the topping.
To make the topping:.
Boil the potatoes in slightly salt-cured water then mash them well, adding half the butter and every one of the milk step by step. Season to style.
If mistreatment recent leeks, fry the leeks gently within the remaining butter, till soft and slightly colored.
Stir the hard-boiled leeks into the Murphy combiner and provides it all a decent mix.
Assemble:.
Put the meat mixture into an out sized and deep well lubricated baking dish and unfold the potato mixture on top; then sprinkle with the cheese. you'll conjointly use four - half dozen smaller pie dishes if you would like.
Put into a pre-heated kitchen appliance, 200C/400F/Gas Mark half dozen for concerning twenty five to half-hour till the topping is crusty, golden and effervescent.
Serve with associate degree assortment of recent seasonal vegetables and a jug of gravy.