Lower-carb cottage pie

Serves: 6
Course: Main Course
Cooking Time: 0 hr 2 mins
Ingredients
  • <ul> <li>FOR THE BASE:</li> <li>25g butter</li> <li>1 tbsp olive oil</li> <li>4 carrots, peeled and cut into 1cm dice</li> <li>2 onions, diced</li> <li>1 head celery, cut into 1cm dice</li> <li>4 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed</li> <li>few leaves of thyme, oregano</li> <li>500g minced beef</li> <li>1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes</li> <li>1 tube tomato puree</li> <li>1 tin anchovies, drained</li> <li>good dash Worcestershire sauce</li> <li>FOR THE TOPPING:</li> <li>600g (3 large) leeks, peeled, washed and chopped</li> <li>600g (half a large head) cauliflower, chopped into florets</li> <li>few pinches grated nutmeg</li> <li>1-2 spring onions, chopped</li> <li>1 punnet cherry tomatoes, halved</li> </ul>

In a saucepan, melt the butter with the olive oil and, over a medium heat, sweat the carrots, onions, celery and garlic together for about 15-20 minutes with the lid on, until very soft. Then add the rest of the ingredients and cook for about 35 minutes, until the mixture is quite dry, before being poured into a gratin dish.

While the sauce is cooking, make the mash by cooking the leeks and cauliflower in a saucepan with a little water, some butter and salt, until soft – about 15 minutes. Whizz in a food processor til it becomes a mash. Top the meat sauce with the “mash”, then the chopped spring onions and cherry tomatoes. Bake at 180 degrees for 30-40 minutes, until starting to brown.


Food cooked and styled by
Domini Kemp and Gillian Fallon

Domini Kemp

Domini Kemp

Domini Kemp, a contributor to The Irish Times, is a chef and food writer