Beef & Guinness Cottage Pie

Ingredients

• 1 kg Mince beef
• 2 cloves garlic (crushed)
• 1 brown onion (diced)
• 2 carrots (diced)
• 1 red chili (diced)
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 250 ml beef stock
• 440 ml Guinness (can)
• 2 sprigs thyme
• 1 bayleaf
• 4 tbsp flour
• 2 tbsp worcestershire sauce
• salt & pepper
• 1 anise
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1.3 kg potatoes (peeled & chopped)
• 100 g butter
• 100 g grated cheddar cheese (optional)

Instructions

1. 1

   --- Pie ---

2. 2

   Fry onion, carrots, garlic & chili in olive oil until soft – 4/5 minutes

3. 3

   Add mince beef and cook until browned, breaking it up as you do it – 10/12 minutes

4. 4

   Mix 4 tbsp flour with 100ml Guinness and set aside.

5. 5

   Add remaining Guinness, thyme, bayleaf, anise, tomato paste, Worcestershire and beef stock to pot. Once simmering stir in the Guinness & flour mixture.

6. 6

   Cook on medium heat (at a simmer) for 20/30 minutes, stirring occasionally. You want to reduce the cooking liquid until it’s a gravy like thickness. *see notes*

7. 7

   Once reduced to your liking set pie aside to cool a little. *see notes*

8. 8

   --- Potatoes ---

9. 9

   Chop potatoes to equal sized pieces and boil in heavily salted water until soft enough to mash – approx. 15 minutes.

10. 10

    Drain potatoes and allow them to steam for a minute to remove moisture. Add butter, cream and 80g of grated cheddar cheese & chives. Stir to combine.

11. 11

    --- Assembly ---

12. 12

    Once pie mix has cooled sufficiently spoon the potatoes over the top and spread out. Using a fork make rough bits on the top of potatoes. This helps give you those delicious brown crusty bits. Sprinkle remainder of the grated cheese on top and bake in oven for 25/30 minutes @ 180c