This is my recipe for an alternative cottage pie, with Spanish influence.

Ingredients

1lb of Mince (Beef)
1 Onion, finely diced
2 Cloves of Garlic, crushed
1 Carrot, peeled and finely diced
4 Ripe Tomatoes
100g of Sliced Chorizo Sausage
1 250ml Can of Tomato Frito (or check out my blog for a recipe)
1 litre of beef stock
1 tps of Pimienton Dulce
Salt and Pepper to taste

Mash Topping
1lb of Potatoes, peeled boiled
2 tbs of Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper

Cheese for topping, plus 6 slices of tomato.

Method
Fry off the mince in Olive Oil until brown. Throw in the onion and chorizo sausage. Fry for a few minutes until onion is golden brown tinged. Add the carrots and finely chopped tomatoes. Add the tomato frito, beef stock, pimienton dulce and season to taste. Cook on a low heat for 30 minutes.

While this cooks boil and mash the potatoes. Add the olive oil and season to taste. Set aside until the filling is done.

Drain off excess sauce from the mince (this will help make your gravy (sauce) later). Place the filling in a large oven proof dish, and chill in the fridge for around one hour until the mixture is firm. This makes spreading the mash over the top much easier and far less messy. Spread the mash over the top of the filling, taking care to make sure it is easy. Place the tomatoe slices over, and sprinkle the cheese - a little finely diced onion is nice too!

Place in a hot oven (around 200) for around 30 minutes.

Use the excess sauce removed from the liquid to make the gravy - bring to boil and reduce until required sauce consistency.

Lovely!

Eliza James posted on July 12th, 2008
Email this author | All posts by Eliza