Cottage Pie

Cottage pie is a filling and hearty comfort food meal that is especially fantastic in cold winter months. The dish originated in the 1700s when potatoes were introduced to the UK. In those times, many poor people, often living in cottages in the country, used potatoes as everyday food. Pies made of minced meat and potatoes were called "cottage pies."

Cottage pie and Shepherd's pie after often terms that are used interchangeably. However, Shepherd's Pie typically uses lamb, while this cottage pie uses ground beef. 

There are many variations of vegetables you can include. For example, peas are often used, but I don't love peas, so I omitted them from this recipe.

Pro Tip: Boil the potatoes while you are making the filling rather than waiting to boil the water until after the filling is cooked.

Meat Church How To YouTube Video: Coming Soon

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs lean ground beef or venison
• 2 celery stakes, finely chopped
• 1 medium yellow onion diced
• 1 carrot, peeled and finely chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 T butter
• 2 T tomato paste
• 1/4 C flour
• 2 C beef stock or broth
• 1/2 C red wine
• 2 T Worcestershire sauce
• 6 sprigs of thyme, tied in a bundle
• 2 dried bay leaves
• Meat Church BLANCO to taste (sub Meat Church Holy Cow or S&P)

Topping

• 2 1/2 lbs potatoes, peeled and cubed (russets or golds)
• 1/2 C heavy cream (sub milk)
• 6 T butter, divided (4 T for mashed potatoes, 2 T melted to drizzle)
• 1 C parmesan cheese, freshly shredded, divided (3/4 C for the mashed potatoes, 1/4 C to top)
• Meat Church Holy Cow to taste (sub Meat Church BLANCO or S&P)

Tools

• 12" cast iron skillet (because you will use it on the stove and in the oven or smoker). Alternatively, you can use a regular pan and then a 9x13 oven safe dish.
• potato masher

Prepare your cooker
Prepare your smoker or oven at a temperature of 350. 

Also, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil for the potatoes for the topping.

Prepare the filling
Brown the ground meat in a 12" cast iron skillet over medium high heat. Season it lightly with Meat Church BLANCO. 

When the meat is cooked, remove it from the pan leaving a little of the rendered fat to sauté the vegetables in the next step.

Melt the butter in the same pan and add in the celery, onion, carrots and a dash of BLANCO. Cook over medium heat until the onions and translucent and carrots are soft. This should take about 5 minutes.

Add the tomato paste and garlic and cook for 1 minute.

Add the flour, stirring thoroughly and cook for 2 more minutes. The consistency will be fairly dry.

Add the beef broth, red wine, Worcestershire sauce, thyme, bay leaves (and 1/2 C peas if you are including them) and 1 t of Meat Church BLANCO.

Bring the mixture to a simmer, stirring occasionally. Simmer for 8 - 10 minutes until it thickens.

Remove the herbs. 

Add the ground meat back in and stir it all together. Remove from the heat and allow to cool for 5 minutes.

Prepare the topping
Add the potatoes to the boiling water and cook for 20 minutes. The potatoes will be fork tender.

Drain the potatoes, add them back to the pot and mash them.

Add in the butter, cream, 3/4C of the parmesan cheese, season with Meat Church Holy Cow to taste. Stir to combine. Taste, add more seasoning if necessary,

Assemble the cottage pie
Spoon the mashed potatoes evenly across the cooked beef and vegetable mixture. Smooth it out like icing on a cake. Season the top lightly with Meat Church Holy Cow. Drizzle 2T of melted butter across the top and sprinkle the remaining 1\4 C of parmesan cheese.

Cook the cottage pie
Place the pan in the oven and bake for 30 minutes or until its golden. 

Remove from the oven. Allow it cool for 5 - 10 minutes. Spoon out serving with a large spoon and enjoy!