Beef
Cottage pie with Stilton Mash
A rich and delicious cottage pie made with beef braising steak rather than mince. The blue cheese mash topping is
- Serves 4 large servings
- Prep 20 minutes
- Cook 2 hours
- Total 2 hours
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Red Tractor are also hosting weekly competitions on their Facebook & Twitter to win more prizes, including £100 Aldi Voucher, £50 Cooperative vouchers, meat goody bags and much more. Be sure to check them out!
Recipe
Cottage pie with Stilton Mash
A rich and delicious cottage pie made with beef brasing steak rather than mince. The Stilton mash topping is totally addictive!
- Serves 4 large servings
- Prep 20 minutes
- Cook 2 hours
- Total 2 hours
Ingredients
- 2 lb (900g) Red Tractor braising steak (cut into small cubes)
- 6 tbsp Red Tractor all-purpose flour ((= plain flour), seasoned with salt and pepper)
- rapeseed (canola oil for frying)
- 2 cups (500ml) hot beef stock
- 1 cup (250ml) dark ale
- 3 Red Tractor onions (peeled and roughly chopped)
- 3 large garlic cloves (peeled and sliced)
- 2 large Red Tractor carrots (peeled and finely diced)
- 2 celery sticks (finely diced)
- 2 star anise
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 tsp mild curry powder
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1-2 tsp fresh thyme leaves
- ½ tsp Worcestershire sauce
- ½ tsp ground cumin
- 7 large Red Tractor floury potatoes such as Maris Piper (peeled and cubed)
- ½ cup (125ml) Red Tractor whole milk (or more, as needed)
- 3 ½ tbsp Red Tractor butter
- 3 ½ oz (100g) Red Tractor Stilton cheese (crumbled)
- salt and freshly ground pepper
- buttered peas and green beans (to serve)
Method
- 1
Preheat the oven to 300°F (150°C).
- 2
Put the flour into a large plate and season liberally with salt and pepper. Add the beef cubes and toss until they are lightly coated in flour.
- 3
Heat a generous glug of rapeseed oil in a large casserole dish (I used my Le Creuset). Add the beef, in batches if necessary, and brown the cubes. Transfer to a large bowl and set aside.
- 4
Add a splash of the stock to deglaze the casserole and scrape any sticky brown bits from the bottom with a wooden spoon. Pour any liquid from the pan in with the beef.
- 5
Add more oil to the casserole and fry the onions over medium-low heat for 5 minutes.
- 6
Add the curry powder, cumin, garlic, carrots and celery and continue to cook for another 5 minutes.
- 7
Stir in the tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, stock and ale.
- 8
Add the cinnamon stick, star anise and the browned beef. Bring to the boil, cover the casserole and place in the oven. Cook for 2 hours – checking after 1 hour to give the stew a little stir.
- 9
Remove the casserole from the oven and transfer the stew to a large, deep, ovenproof dish to cool slightly. Remove the cinnamon stick and star anise. Check the seasoning and sprinkle with the thyme.
- 10
Place the potatoes in a large saucepan and cover with water. Cover the pot and bring to the boil. Lower heat to a rolling simmer and cook until the potatoes are fork tender.
- 11
Drain and return to the pot. Add the butter and milk and mash together until smooth. Add a splash more milk if the mash is too dry. Taste and season.
- 12
Transfer the mash to a large piping bag and pipe over the stew. Sprinkle with the crumbled cheese.
- 13
Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C) and cook for about 25 minutes until the mash starts to color a little and the middle is very hot.
- 14
Leave the pie to cool for 10-15 minutes and serve with buttered peas and steamed green beans on the side.
