Cottage Pie with Guinness

I hope you all had a great St Paddy’s Day and went easy on the black stuff. Unfortunately for me the Chocolate Guinness Cupcakes proved too much temptation and I caved in but it was utterly worth it (back to the diet today)! To continue the celebrations and Guinness theme I made this recipe for dinner, Cottage Pie with Guinness. I came across this recipe by Gordan Ramsey on Google and I’m not usually a fan of his recipes but this sounded delicious, plus adding Guinness to the pie intrigued me. It turned out to be amazing, it tasted just like you would want a cottage pie to taste, full of flavour! I did adapt the recipe and added carrots and celery, only because I thought it lacked the vegetables required. My son had his friend over for dinner and there wasn’t a scrap left on none of our plates. Hubby was pleased to see there was left-over’s for him to take to work for his lunch today. This recipe for Cottage Pie is definitely a keeper and one I would recommend you try!

Cottage Pie with Guinness

Ingredients
2 tbsp olive oil
900g lean minced beef
Sea salt and black pepper
1 medium onions, peeled and finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
2 carrots, peeled and diced

2 celery sticks, diced

A few thyme sprigs, leaves only
2 tbsp tomato puree
330ml bottle of Guinness
5 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
300ml chicken stock
1kg floury potatoes, such as Maris Piper or King Edward, peeled and roughly cubed
50g butter
2 tbsp finely grated cheddar cheese, plus extra for grating
1 large egg yolk


Place a large frying pan over a high heat and add a thin layer of olive oil. Season the mince with salt and pepper and fry, stirring, in two or three batches, until nicely browned. Once cooked, tip the mince into a sieve or colander to drain off the fat.

Place another large pan over a medium-high heat and add a little olive oil. When hot, fry the onions, carrots, celery, garlic and thyme, for 8-10 minutes until soft and golden. Add the browned mince, and tomato puree. Stir constantly for 4-5 minutes.

Add the Guinness and Worcestershire sauce and boil until the liquid has reduced by half. Pour in the stock and return to the boil.

Turn the heat down and simmer for 20-25 minutes, by which time the mixture should be thick and glossy. Continue to simmer for another 5-10 minutes if it doesn’t seem quite thick enough. Remove from the heat.

Preheat the oven to 180°C/Gas 4. Meanwhile, add the potatoes to a pan of salted water, bring to the boil and cook until tender. Drain and return to the hot pan for 15 seconds or so, to dry out, then take off the heat. Pass the potatoes through a potato ricer back into the pan or mash smoothly. Mix through the butter, cheese and egg yolk. Taste and adjust the seasoning.

Spoon the mince mixture into the bottom of a 2 litre pie dish. Spoon the mashed potato on top and rough up the surface with a fork. Grate over some extra cheese and bake in the oven for about 30 minutes until bubbling and golden brown.