Cottage Pie (Shepherd's Pie)

Cottage Pie (Shepherd's Pie)
Serves 4
Ingredients

• 4 large potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1/4 cup of shredded cheese
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3-4 garlic cloves
• 5 carrots
• 3 parsnips
• 500g minced beef (lamb)
• 3/4 cup beef broth
• 1 tablespoon ketchup (optional)
• vegetable oil

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add potatoes and cook until tender but still firm, about 15 minutes. Drain and mash with butter. Season with salt and pepper to taste; set aside.
2. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add carrots parsnips and cook until tender but still firm, about 15 minutes. Drain, mash and set aside. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C.)
3. Heat oil in a large frying pan. Add onion and cloves and cook until clear. Add ground beef and cook until well browned. Add ketchup and beef broth. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes.
4. Spread the ground beef in an even layer on the bottom of a 2 quart casserole dish. Next, spread a layer of carrots and parsnips. Top with the mashed potato mixture and sprinkle with shredded cheese.
5. Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes, or until golden brown.

Modified from http://allrecipes.com/recipe/shepherds-pie-vi/

This is a cottage pie because it was made with beef. If I had used lamb, it would have been a shepherd's pie. 

I liked how this turned out. The beef was good and juicy, the carrots and parsnips added vegetables and nothing got burnt. I think I should have seasoned the mashed potatoes a little more but that's a small tweak.

Beef is expensive but for four servings it was worth it.

500g of minced beef: EUR 5.98 at the local butcher's

Carrots, 1/3 of a bag at EUR 0.99/bag = EUR 0.33 at Lidl

Parsnips, 1/2 of a package at EUR 1.29/package = EUR 0.65
Onion, EUR 0.22 at Tesco
Butter, perhaps EUR 0.20 at Tesco
Cheese, perhaps EUR 0.80 at Tesco
Garlic, 1/2 of a bulb at EUR 0.49/4 bulbs at Lidl = EUR 0.06
Potatoes: EUR 1.21 at Tesco
Beef Stock Cube, 1/8 at EUR 3.39/package = EUR 0.43 at Tesco Express
Vegetable Oil, 1/20 of a bottle at EUR 1.99/bottle = EUR 0.10 at Lidl
Total Cost: EUR 9.98 for 4 servings or EUR 2.50 for one serving