Pie, glorious pie!

This is a twist on the old classic Cottage Pie. I'm not sure if this pie gets it's name from being eaten in cottages but I do know its another British institution. I'm not even going to get into the debate about the difference between a Cottage Pie and a Shepherd's Pie. As far as I know Cottage Pie is made with beef and Shepherd's Pie is made with lamb! Anyway, what we have here is a pie made with swede, turnip and carrot topping, as opposed to potato. This makes the pie less starchy and much easier to digest.

shining example of a pie

My husband and the film crew he was working with today just devoured it within a few minutes so I'm presuming its pretty delicious!

Ingredients

for the topping: 
1 swede
2 turnips
4 carrots
half tablespoon butter

for the meat:

dash of olive oil
1 large onion
500g organic beef mince

Roughly chop the onion and fry it in a pan with the olive oil for about 5 minutes then put in the mince and let it cook on a medium heat until browned. Meanwhile chop up all the vegetables and place in a pan of boiling water - cook until tender, takes about 15 minutes.

Once browned, put a thick layer of the mince into a pie dish. Drain the vegetables and save the water to be added to a soup later. Then mash all the vegetables with butter and place on top of the mince. Use a fork to flatten down the top and make a pattern then put a few small knobs of butter onto the surface.

Put in the oven at 180 C and leave to cook until browned on top - takes about 30 minutes. If you've played your cards right what comes out should be a pie full of lovely goodness. Enjoy.

pie & peas