Cottage Pie

Ingredients

• — First-in batch · initial load —
• 160 g beef mince (a third of a 500 g pack; 5% or 12% fat both work), broken up with a spoon in the container
• ½ onion (about 50 g), finely chopped
• 1 small carrot (about 50 g), cut into 5 mm dice
• 1 tbsp tomato purée
• ½ beef stock cube, crumbled (a chicken cube works)
• 2 tsp dark soy sauce (for colour and savoury depth)
• 1 bay leaf, whole
• Black pepper, a good grind
• 150 ml water, poured in from a jug, plus 30 ml hot water on hand in case the gravy runs dry
• 220 g potato (1–2 potatoes), peeled and cut into 3 cm chunks, laid on top in a single layer
• — Second-in batch · peas —
• 80 g frozen peas, straight from the freezer, stirred into the mince once the potatoes come out
• — Third-in batch · mash ingredients —
• 15 g butter, for the mash
• 2 tbsp milk (30 ml), for the mash
• ⅛ tsp salt (a pinch), for the mash

Method

1. Beef mince, onion, carrot, tomato purée, crumbled stock cube, dark soy sauce, bay leaf and a good grind of pepper into the 1.0 L container. Measure 150 ml water in a measuring jug and pour it in, then break the mince up with a spoon and stir everything together until it is a loose, even layer with no lumps, sitting under the liquid — mix now, before the potato goes in, while the water makes it easy. Potato chunks on top in a single layer — they sit above the liquid and cook in the steam. Everything should sit below the rim (the load fills the container about three-quarters; the peas go in later); if a potato piece stands proud, tuck it down or hold it back. Cooking lid on upside down — rim up — resting loose.
2. Onto the hob at a medium heat — about 6 of 9 on a fitted induction hob, level 3 on a portable hob (see Heat below) — until steam comes steadily from the lid gap and you can hear it bubbling, about 7 minutes. Then down to a gentle simmer — about 5 of 9 on a fitted hob, level 2 on a portable hob; if you smell it catching, drop to 4. Set a timer for 10 minutes; when it goes off, lift the lid and give the mince under the potatoes a quick stir with the spoon so nothing sits on the base, lid back on loose and set a timer for 10 minutes more; when it goes off, a knife should slide into the biggest potato chunk with no resistance — if it still resists, lid back on and set a timer for 4 minutes more before going on.
3. Lift the potato chunks out with the spoon into a bowl (oven gloves — the container and lid are hot). Stir the frozen peas into the mince and look: it should be a loose, saucy gravy, not soup. If it looks soupy, lid off and set a timer for 3 minutes at the same heat; when it goes off it should have thickened. If it looks dry or is catching on the base, stir in the 30 ml hot water. Turn the hob off and fish out the bay leaf.
4. Mash the potatoes in the bowl with a fork, working in the butter, the milk and just a pinch of salt (⅛ tsp) until smooth enough to spread; pepper to taste — the gravy underneath is already seasoned, so go easy. Spoon the mash over the mince and spread it right to the edges so the gravy is sealed in, then drag the fork across the top to rough it into ridges — the ridges are what brown.
5. Grill at its highest setting (stage 3 on a 3-stage grill), door closed, preheated for 3 minutes, with the shelf set so the top of the food sits 8–12 cm below the element. Lid off. Middle shelf. Set a timer for 6 minutes; when it goes off, look: the ridges should be starting to colour. Give it 1 minute at a time after that, watching the whole time, until the top is golden brown in patches — usually 8–10 minutes in all. The steel sides shade the edges, so the middle browns first; that is fine.
6. Oven gloves to take it out of the grill. Rest 3 minutes, then eat from the container — the gravy underneath is very hot.
7. To reheat: storage lid off, cooking lid rested on loose. A frozen pie thaws overnight in the fridge first — straight from frozen the middle stays cold while the top dries out. From the fridge, oven at 180 °C conventional / 160 °C fan and set a timer for 25 minutes; when it goes off, push a knife tip into the middle and feel it — hot all the way; if it is not, set a timer for 5 minutes more. Then lid off and 2–3 minutes under a hot grill, watched the whole time, to crisp the top again before serving it piping hot right through.