Cottage Pie with Cauliflower Cheese Topping

Cottage pie is a traditional English dish 🥧. It dates back to the late 18th century and as you can imagine there are multiple different recipes. However, they all involve ground mince meat cooked with chopped onions 🧅 , sauce and topped with potato mash 🥔 before baked in the oven.

In the past, the words cottage pie and shepherd’s pie were used interchangeably regardless of the type of minced meat. It was not until the 21st century when cottage pie specifies that the meat used is beef 🐄 , and shepherd’s pie (as the name indicates) – when the meat is lamb 🐑 .

Cottage Pie with Cauliflower Cheese Topping

Author: theflower2020

Difficulty:AdvancedPrep time: 30 minutesCook time:1 hour Rest time: 15 minutesTotal time:1 hour 50 minutesServings:4 servingsCalories: kcal Best Season:Winter

Description

I love preparing cottage pie (the beef version 😋) – it takes longer to cook but it is one of my favourite comfort food meals 🥘. It is warm, cosy and goes great with a glass of red wine 🍷. The other added benefit is that there is always lunch for the following day 😉
As with most meals on Dine with Delight, I like to find a healthier version (as much as that is possible) of any particular dish and share it with you 🍎.

Ingredients

• 1 chopped onion
• 2 carrots
• 2 tablespoons of butter
• 500 g beef mince meat
• 150g red split lentils
• 2 tablespoons of tomato purée
• 300 ml beef stock
• 1 medium potato
• 1 medium cauliflower
• 100 ml of crème fraîche
• 200g of grated mozzarella cheese 🧀 (or any cheese)
• salt to taste
• pepper to taste
• paprika

Instructions

1. Peel and cut the potato into chunks
2. Peel the carrots (but do not chop them)
3. Cut the cauliflower into florets
4. Place all vegetables in a pot and boil them until they are very soft, like mash (about 30-35 minutes)
5. In a separate skillet melt the butter and add the chopped onion
6. Once the onion is soft, add the red split lentils
7. Add salt, pepper and paprika to taste
8. Take the softened carrots our of the boiling pot and place them in the skillet. Mash them and stir well
9. Add the beef mince and make sure it is cooked well (no pink meat)
10. Add two tablespoons of tomato purée
11. Add the beef stock pot (100 ml at a time, stir well, then add a bit more)
12. Lower the temperature to simmer and stir occasionally
13. Cook until the consistency is thicker and the water has evaporated
14. In the meantime, drain the cauliflower and potato. Whilst they are still warm, add the crème fraîche and grated mozzarella cheese. Mash until the consistency is even ( you can use a stick blender)
15. Pre-heat the oven to 200 C
16. Pour evenly the beef, onion and lentil mix into a baking tray. Pour the mozzarella, cauliflower, crème fraîche topping
17. Bake for 25-30 minutes

Print Recipe

Cottage Pie with Cauliflower Cheese Topping

Cooking Method: Baking, Boiling Cuisine: English Courses: Dinner Recipe Keys: High Protein Low Carb