Cottage pie with bubble and squeak topping

A recipe to acquire, develop and secure practical food skills such as knife skills and hob skills such as (simmer and boiling,) and demonstrate the principles of good food hygiene and safety.

Ingredients

450g potatoes 

1 parsnip 

1 carrot

1 onion

125g Savoy or leafy green cabbage 

250g lean beef mince

1x 15ml spoon plain flour

1x 15ml spoon tomato purée

1x 15ml spoon Worcestershire sauce

1 reduced-salt beef or vegetable stock cube

250ml boiling water

25ml semi-skimmed milk

Freshly ground black pepper

Equipment

Vegetable peeler, sharp knife, chopping board, 2 x saucepans, colander, kettle, measuring jug, potato masher, ovenproof dish.

Method

1. Peel the potatoes and parsnips and cut into small chunks. Place in a saucepan and cover with cold water.  Bring to the boil and cook for 20 minutes or until soft.

2. Prepare the remaining vegetables:

  • peel and finely dice the carrot;
  • peel and finely dice the onion;
  • shred the cabbage.

3. Dry fry the beef with the onion and carrot in a non-stick saucepan until the mince is browned. Carefully drain off any excess liquid.

4. Stir in the flour, tomato puree and Worcestershire sauce.

5. Make up the stock by dissolving the stock cube in the boiling water in a jug. Add this to the pan.  Bring to the boil and cook for 5-10 minutes until the carrots are just soft.

6. During the last 5 minutes of cooking the potatoes and parsnip, add the cabbage.

7. Once cooked, drain carefully and mash with a little milk and season with black pepper.

8. Transfer the mince to an ovenproof dish and spoon the bubble and squeak mash over the top.

Top tips:

  • Focus on fibre: Just wash, but don’t peel, the potatoes for increased fibre.
  • Turn up the flavour: Use 1x 15ml spoon (1tbsp) of Greek or natural yogurt instead of milk when making the mash for added flavour.
  • Serving suggestion: Serve with fresh seasonal vegetables.
  • Food skills: Check out our food skills videos to help understand the key skills used in this recipe. 

Be ingredient aware!


Check for any food allergy, intolerance, special dietary requirement or religious/cultural reasons for not handling or eating the ingredients in this recipe. 

You may need to modify the recipe accordingly. For example, if following a vegan or vegetarian diet, use a meat alternative. For those with an allergy to lactose, use a lactose - free or alternative milk drink. Always check food labels for allergens, and suitability for vegetarians and vegans.

For full guidance and up-to-date information on the 14 allergens, please visit the Food Standards Agency (FSA) website. 
  

Nutritional information

This recipe serves three portions based on portion size guidance for 11-18 year olds , if serving to younger children then they may require a smaller portion and if serving to adults, they may require a bit more. 

Why not use the Explore Food calculator, the British Nutrition Foundation's free online nutritional analysis programme, to calculate the nutritional information for other recipes?

Food skills:

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Weigh
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Measure
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Peel
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Cut, Chop, Slice, Dice & Trim
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Melt, simmer and boil
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Drain
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Fry & Sauté
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Mix, Stir & Combine
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Spread
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Bake

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