Chillish® Thatched Cottage Pie

This is a beautiful twist of the traditional Cottage pie. Puff pastry is incredibly decadent and offers a much quicker alternative to mash. You can serve it in an oven proof dish or individual dishes work well and take up less room in the fridge!

This recipe serves 4 people.

Ingredients:

4 tbsp Chillish® oil
800g best quality minced beef
6 rashers of smoked streaky bacon (finely chopped into small pieces)
1 large onion (diced)
1 large carrot (diced)
200g Petite Pois (frozen peas)
2 cloves of garlic
2 bay leaves
1 tbsp fresh thyme (finely chopped)
1 tbsp fresh rosemary (finely chopped)
10 good shakes of Worcestershire Sauce
1 heaped tbsp plain flour
200ml red Port (red wine can be substituted)
200ml beef stock
4 tbsp Chillish® Gubbins
1 tbsp salt
25 generous twists of black pepper

For the Thatch:
320g Puff pastry sheet
1 egg

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 200C/180C/Gas 6.
• In a deep saucepan, add 2 tbsp Chillish® Oil and fry the bacon bits, until they are crisp. Remove and set aside.
• Turn up the heat and add the mince.
• Once the mince has browned, add the Worcestershire sauce and fry until it is nicely coated.
• Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.
• Add the remaining 2 tbsp of Chillish® Oil to the pan, followed by the onion, garlic, carrot, thyme, rosemary and bay leaves.
• Fry on a medium heat until the onions have softened and appear caramelised.
• Add the mince back into the pan and add the flour. Mix well and turn up the heat.
• Add the Port (or red wine) and bring to the boil.
• Add the stock and bacon pieces.
• After a minute, turn the heat down and simmer with the lid off for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Stir in the Chillish® Gubbins and spoon the whole mixture into an ovenproof dish.
• Remove the bay leaves.
• Roll the pastry out on a lightly floured surface, making sure it is a little bigger that your dish.
• Add a little water to the edge of the dish, then drape the pastry sheet over the entire dish.
• Using a sharp knife, trim the excess pastry. Note* You can use these off cuts to make shapes using a cookie cutter. Make some light fork trails through the pastry.
• Brush the surface of the pie with beaten egg, and cook for 30 minutes.

Serve with lightly steamed purple sprouting broccoli.

*Tip - I always use fresh products where possible, but for this dish you can use dried herbs and pre-rolled pastry if you wish.