meat and fish | flat roof cottage pie

Serves 4

This is a delicious and incredibly rich meal. To make it easier for you, there are several ways in which you could make it, including an all-in-pot version, a layered version and one with mashed potato - each of which tastes absolutely great.

Wheat free, dairy free, nut free version...

Method...

1. In one saucepan, boil the potatoes for 10-15 minutes until nearly cooked.
2. In a large saucepan, heat the oil and start to brown the onions with a little salt.
3. When they begin to soften, add the celery and garlic and cook for a few minutes.
4. Add the carrots and cook for another 5 minutes or so, stirring.
5. Remove most of this from the pan. Don't worry about leaving some in.
6. Add the meat and cook until all the water has disappeared and meat starts to brown.
7. Add the thyme and cinnamon and stir well for a few minutes.
8. Add the mushrooms and cook for another few minutes, then add the wine, stock, cayenne, sugar, tomato paste and bay leaf. Season with a little more salt and pepper.
9. Cover and cook for 30 minutes.
10. Now there are a couple of options. You can either add the potatoes and cook for another 15 minutes - making an all-in-one sort of cottage pie. Or, you could thicken the meat mixture with a desert spoon of gravy granules, slice the potatoes and layer in a casserole dish with a layer of potatoes on top. Just brush the top with oil, sprinkle some more thyme and bake for 20 minutes until the potatoes start to crisp and the mixture bubbles.

Maybe serve with...

This is absolutely gorgeous as it is, but you could serve with leafy greens or any other mixture of vegetables.

For those able to eat dairy ...

You could always go the whole nine yards if you don't eat this very often! Put the meat mixture in an ovenproof dish, and use the potatoes to make mash. Cook the potatoes completely, drain and add in a good dollop of butter when mashing. Then stir in some grated cheese. Spoon the mash evenly onto the meat mixture and grate a little more cheese and black pepper on top. Bake for 20 minutes or so until the potato starts to turn that lovely golden brown colour.

For those able to eat wheat...

You could always serve the all-in-one saucepan version with crusty bread, or a garlic bread. Or you could add a pastry crust to the thickened meat mixture and bake as a pie.

If you have beef leftover, see the Italian beef stew or sizzling stir-fried beef. If you have carrots, onions and celery leftover, see Scarlett's secret sauce, cottage pie, bean chilli, basic vegetable stock and pepper paprikash. If you have carrots and onions leftover, see Italian stew, Nanny Dot's cawl and Nanny Eve's chicken soup for the soul (and sniffles).If you have carrots and celery leftover, see the bean chilli, perfect pot chicken and rustic country chicken. If you have mushrooms leftover, see the mushroom pate and Mediterranean skewers. If you have beef stock leftover, see the bean chilli, the fassolatha and the Italian stew. If you have potatoes left, see the potato wedges, the mashed potato and the rosemary roast potatoes.

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