Cottage Pie with Root Vegetable Topping
Servings 4
My Cottage Pie with Roasted Root Vegetable Topping recipe is a delicious, nutritious twist on a traditional British favourite.
Ingredients
- 1 sweet potato peeled and cut in small cubes
- 1 small butternut squash, peeled and cut in small cubes You can use prepared bags of cubed butternut squash and sweet potato if you prefer.
- 2 large parsnips, peeled and cut in small cubes
- 2 tablespoons mlld olive oil, divided
- ½ teaspoon onion salt
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- freshly ground pepper
- 1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
- 1 pound ground beef (mince beef) You can substitute plant-based mince for a vegetarian or vegan option.
- 2 carrots, peeled and finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon corn flour Corn flour is also known as corn starch.
- ½ cup beef stock You may not need it all. Use vegetable stock if you are substituting plant-based mince.
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce Omit for a vegetarian/vegan option
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C OR 190°C for fan ovens).
- Place the cubed root vegetables on a baking tray and drizzle with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil.
- Mix together the onion salt, garlic powder, paprika and pepper to taste.
- Shake over the root vegetables.
- Stir the vegetables to coat with the oil and seasonings and put in the oven.
- Set the timer for 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, heat the remaining tablespoon of olive oil in a deep frying pan with a lid.
- Sauté the onion until it begins to soften a little.
- Add the ground beef and cook, breaking the meat up as you go, until the meat is browned.
- When the timer goes off for the vegetables, remove the pan from the oven, turn the vegetables and return the pan to the oven. Set the timer for another 10 minutes.
- Stir in the carrots into the meat mixture in the saucepan and shake the cornflour over top of the pan.
- Add the stock, a little at a time, stirring constantly, until the meat has a bit of gravy around it.
- Cover the frying pan and simmer, adding a little stock if necessary for a fairly thick gravy. .
- Put the meat mixture into a 13 x 9 inch baking dish or 4 smaller baking dishes.
- Top the meat mixture with the roasted root vegetables.
- Place the baking dish or smaller baking dishes on a baking sheet.
- Reduce the oven heat to 375°F (190°C or 180°C for fan ovens).
- Place the cottage pie(s) in the oven on the baking sheets and bake for 15 to 20 minutes until the mixture is bubbling and the vegetable topping has nice crusty edges (but isn't burned).
- Serve the cottage pies with green vegetables.
Notes
For the first three ingredients (the root vegetables), you can use any combination of vegetables you like. If you dislike parsnips, feel free to use more squash or sweet potato, or use carrots instead.
If you use carrots in the topping, I suggest you substitute peas for the carrots in the meat or plant-based mince mixture.
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