Cottage Pie (with a twist)

In Afrikaans, we would call this dish a ‘Herderspastei’, which translates to Shepherd’s Pie. But the difference between Shepherd’s Pie and Cottage Pie lies in what kind of ground meat (mince) you use:

  • Cottage Pie: Ground beef
  • Shepherd’s Pie: Ground lamb

So, for all intents and purposes, we’re making a Cottage Pie today. The twist lies in the topping – we’re not going to put the usual mashed potato on top, but rather mashed sweet potato. Not only is it healthier, but in my opinion, also tastier.

Put it on the table – Ground beef mixture:

We are first going to show you how to prepare the ground beef mixture. We have been making this recipe for the past 20 years and it remains one of the tastiest plates of comfort food out there.

Ingredients for ground beef mixture

500g ground beef (mince)

5 fresh tomatoes, chopped (or one can of chopped tomatoes)

1 onion, chopped

3 carrots, chopped

3 celery sticks, chopped

4 cloves of garlic, chopped

2 tablespoons tomato paste

3 cloves

3 bay leaves

1 teaspoon crushed coriander seeds

salt and pepper

olive oil

Chopped vegetables

Heat a little olive oil in a large casserole on the stove top and sauté the chopped onion until slightly soft. Add now the rest of the chopped vegetables (not the tomatoes) and sauté until tender.

Fry the onion first and then the rest of the vegetables

Add the ground beef and spices to the vegetables in the casserole and fry until browned.

Browned ground beef

Stir in the tomato paste and let it cook for about 2 minutes.

The tomato paste gives a nice colour to the dish

Finally, it’s time for the chopped tomatoes. Stir it through, cover the casserole and let it simmer on low heat for about 45 minutes.

Add the chopped tomatoes

Add a little water if the mixture becomes too dry

Put it on the table – mashed sweet potato:

While the ground beef mixture is simmering, prepare the topping of mashed sweet potato.

Ingredients for mashed sweet potato

1 big sweet potato, chopped (or 3 medium sized sweet potatoes)

3 tablespoons plain yoghurt

2 tablespoons butter

grated cheddar cheese (enough to cover the dish)

Cook the chopped sweet potato in a saucepan in lightly salted water until soft, about 15 minutes. Drain the water through a colander.

Cook and drain sweet potato

By using your potato masher, mash the cooked sweet potato lightly and add yoghurt, butter and salt to taste and combine.

Sweet potato topping

Place the meat mixture in a greased baking dish and spoon the mashed sweet potato on top. Sprinkle with grated cheese.

Meat mixture with sweet potato topping

Grated cheese on top to finish it off

Bake the cottage pie in a preheated oven at 180°C/356°F for about 30 minutes until the cheese is melted and bubbly.

Delicious cottage pie

As a side dish, we mixed butternut with cinnamon and melted butter and then roasted it in the oven for 30 minutes. It was delicious with the cottage pie.

Cottage pie and roasted cinnamon butternut