I love cottage pie for supper, on a cold winter's night, it's a delicious comfort food. This recipe is simple, nourishing, and can be prepared using one cast-iron pan, what's more to love? One of my health-related goals for this new year is to eliminate gluten from my diet and eat a more nutrient-dense diet, with grass-fed meats and lots of vegetables. This dish fits my criteria for a healthy meal filled with nutrients from pastured > ground beef, and local > Cedar Summit Farms cream, plus this dish is gluten-free. Kid appeal of foods is a key factor in meal planning and this one gets a thumbs up from folks of all ages at our house.
Cottage Pie with Mashed Yams
serves 4-5
1 lb grass-fed ground beef
1 cup homemade beef stock or store bought organic beef broth
1/4 cup cream from grass-fed cows
1 stick good-quality butter (the higher fat content the better)
1 large onion, chopped
1 cup frozen peas
1 cup diced carrots
2 medium sized yams or sweet potatoes
3/4 cup shredded grass-fed sharp cheddar cheese
1 T arrowroot powder
1 T finely chopped fresh rosemary
1 tsp dried thyme
2 T organic tomato paste (I like Bionaturae as it's packaged in glass jars)
1 tsp organic Worcestershire sauce (I use Annie's)
real sea salt and crushed black pepper to taste
Directions:
1. Bake yams in a 375 degree oven for 30-45 minutes or until soft when pricked with a fork. Peel yams, discarding the peel and mash them with 4 T butter, 1/4 cup cream and a dash of salt in an electric mixer. When the yams are nicely mashed set aside.
2. In a large cast-iron pan saute onions and carrots in 4 T butter on medium heat, stirring until onions are translucent and carrots are slightly browned. Add in ground beef, breaking up meat into small pieces with the back of a wooden spoon. Stir occasionally until beef is cooked through, about 10 minutes.
3. Pour in beef stock, Worcestershire sauce, tomato paste, rosemary and thyme, stirring to incorporate and turn heat to low. Allow the liquid to reduce, for 15 minutes or so. Add in the peas, and sprinkle the arrowroot powder on top. Briskly stir to prevent the clumping, then continue stirring gently until the sauce has thickened, less then 5 minutes. Add in salt and pepper to taste. Remove pan from heat, turn oven to 375 degrees.
4. Spread mashed yams evenly on top of the meat and veggie mixture. Sprinkle cheese over the yams. Bake for about 25 minutes or until cheese is bubbly and starting to brown.
Enjoy this warm meal with your family on a cold day (it's 7 degrees here as I write this, brrr...)!
Thank you Jenny, for inviting me to write this guest post for the Nourished Kitchen.
I am sharing this post with the Nourishing Gourmet's new year's resolution carnival, and Food Renegade's fight back fridays, too! I am also sharing this at Kitchen Stewerdship!
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