October 28, 2023 / In food , beef / Tagged as: beef, onion, garlic, celery, carrots, flour, red wine, beef stock, puy lentils, tomato puree, soy sauce, sage, rosemary, thyme, potatoes

Cottage Pie with Beef and Lentils

Total Cook Time

60 minutes

Ingredients

  • 500g beef mince
  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
  • 2 sticks celery, finely chopped
  • 3 carrots, peeled and diced
  • 2 tbsp white flour
  • 100ml red wine
  • 500ml beef stock
  • 500g puy lentils (or green lentils), 2 cans drained
  • 2 tbsp tomato puree
  • 2 tbsp soy sauce
  • 2 sprigs sage
  • 1 sprig rosemary
  • 1 tbsp finely chopped thyme
  • salt & pepper
  • 900g potatoes, boiled and mashed

Method

  1. Peel the potatoes, cut into small chunks and put on to boil.
  2. Brown the mince in a frying pan with olive oil, 8-10 minutes.
  3. Add the onion, carrot, garlic, and celery.
  4. Cook until onion is softened.
  5. Sprinkle the flour over and stir well.
  6. Leave to cook for a minute before adding the wine.
  7. Stir to combine and burn off the alcohol.
  8. Add the beef stock.
  9. Add the tomato puree, soy sauce and herbs.
  10. Simmer for 25-30 minutes… and STIR OFTEN to stop the mix from sticking to the bottom of the pan.
  11. Add the lentils and mix well. Cook on the hob for a few minutes to warm the lentils.
  12. Transfer the mix to a large 2 L ovenproof dish.
  13. Remove the rosemary and sage twigs from the mix.
  14. Cover with the mashed potato. Add some butter to the potatoes (it will help the surface brown a little and add to the sumptuousness).
  15. Place in a pre-heated oven at 180C for 10 minutes.

The sauce turns out really great. Probably due to the addition of the flour and the small bit of red wine.