Cottage Pie

This is a very traditional dish that I have had countless times since my childhood, although I’ve only recently started making it. I’ve made all the different parts in other meals, so nothing was particularly surprising. For the base you’re aiming for a thick, rich gravy and a deep umami flavour. The recipe isn’t prescriptive, red wine would work, maybe a little soy sauce. Growing up I had only ever heard of cottage pie, shepherd’s pie wasn’t really a thing. Years later I was told that the distinction is down to the meat involved, cottage pie is beef, and shepherd’s pie is lamb. It makes complete sense to me, although apparently that is a recent invention that supermarkets have standardised on. Historically people and recipe books would use the names completely interchangeably. This makes 4 portions, and takes around 90 minutes. Ingredients For the base 1 large onion, finely diced 1 large carrot, finely diced 1½ celery sticks, finely diced 2-3 garlic cloves 500g beef mince, not low…