British Cottage Pie (Slow Cooker)

Source video by Ross Bamford on YouTube. This recipe was adapted with strict source-fidelity rules and is marked for human review.

Ross's cottage pie is built around layered seasoning rather than long cooking. The hob work stays: brown the mince hard for colour, hit it with tomato puree, Worcester sauce and Henderson's relish until everything caramelises, then sweat onions and carrots in butter on a lower heat. Once it all comes back together with smoked paprika, flour and stock, the whole filling goes into the slow cooker for a low hands-off cook. Mash a generous quantity of red floury potatoes with butter, mature cheddar and a teaspoon of creamed horseradish, pile it onto the filling, fork the surface for crispy peaks, top with more grated cheddar, and 25 minutes at 200°C does the rest.

Ingredients

• neutral high-smoke-point oil
• lean steak mince (5%)
• fine cooking salt
• 40 gtomato puree
• Worcestershire sauce
• Henderson's relish
• 5 carrotscarrots, peeled, topped and tailed, chunky chop
• 1 onionbrown onion, medium dice
• 35 gunsalted butter
• 1 tspsmoked paprika
• 7 gplain flour
• 320 mlbeef stock
• 1 tbspHP sauce (add late)
• 175 gfrozen peas (add late)

• 4 potatoesfloury red potatoes (Maris Piper / Russet), peeled, cut into 2.5 cm cubes
• 100 gunsalted butter
• 120 gmature cheddar, grated on the large holes
• 1 tspcreamed horseradish sauce
• sea salt flakes, crushed slightly
• white pepper

• 80 gextra mature cheddar (for the top), grated (add late)

Method

1. Heat the oil in a large frying pan on the hob over a high heat. Drop in the mince with a grip of salt and let it sit for a couple of minutes before breaking it up. Continue browning for 7 to 8 minutes until all water has gone and the meat is taking real colour.

   ~9 min

2. Clear a space in the pan and squeeze in the tomato puree. Let it sit on the pan for a minute, then stir through the meat. Pour in the Worcester sauce and Henderson's relish and stir hard before they burn.

   ~3 min

3. Tip the mince mixture onto a plate. Lower the heat slightly, add a little more oil, and fry the carrots hard for 3 to 4 minutes until just colouring.

   ~4 min

4. Push the carrots to one side, drop the heat to low, and add the onion with another pinch of salt. Add the butter. Cook gently for 3 to 4 minutes until the onions are soft and translucent without browning.

   ~4 min

5. Return the mince to the pan. Stir in the smoked paprika and the plain flour. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes to take the raw edge off the flour, stirring constantly.

   ~2 min

6. Pour in the beef stock, scraping the bottom of the pan to deglaze. Stir to combine.

   ~1 min

7. Tip the entire filling into the slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 4 hours, or high for 2 hours.

   ~240 min

8. In the last 30 minutes, stir in the HP sauce and the frozen peas. Replace the lid.

   ~30 min

9. Meanwhile, simmer the potatoes in salted water until tender but still with a slight resistance (around 20-25 min). Drain into a colander, shake, and let steam-dry for 5 minutes.

   ~30 min

10. Mash the potatoes back in the pan with the butter, the 120 g cheddar and the horseradish. Season with salt and white pepper. Aim for slightly rustic, not silky.

    ~5 min

11. Tip the slow cooker filling into a 27x22 cm ovenproof dish and level. Spoon the mash over with a fork, smoothing to seal at the edges and forking the surface for crisp peaks. Scatter the remaining 80 g cheddar and a few salt flakes over the top.

    ~8 min

12. Bake at 200°C fan / 220°C conventional / gas 7 on the middle shelf for 25 minutes until golden brown and bubbling at the edges. Rest for 5 minutes before serving.

    ~30 min

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