Cottage Pie

Step 1
Finely dice the onion, carrot and celery. Mince the garlic and strip the thyme leaves from their stem.

Step 2
Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the onion and a pinch of salt and cook for 5 minutes until softened.

Step 3
Add the garlic, carrot, celery, thyme, salt and pepper and cook for 5 minutes, until the carrot and celery soften slightly. Add the tomato paste and cook for another 3-4 minutes, until fragrant. You want the tomato paste to caramelise slightly to take away the raw tomato flavour and create a richer flavour.

Step 4
Increase the heat to medium-high. Push the vegetable mix to one side of the saucepan and add about 250g of the mince meat. Cook for 3-4 minutes until well browned, then stir through the vegetable mix. Push everything to one side again and add the next 250g of mince meat. Repeat until all mince is in the saucepan and nicely browned. Take your time with this step as it helps to develop flavour.

Step 5
Add the stock and Worcestershire sauce to the pot, bring to a gentle simmer and cook for 20 minutes, until the mixture has slightly reduced and thickened. Taste and adjust seasoning with more salt or pepper if needed and set aside to cool while you make the mash.