Cottage Pie

Last night we made braised short ribs with mashed potatoes and roasted parsnips & carrots.  I can not tell you enough how much we LOVE this recipe.  It really is close to the perfect fall or winter meal.  Try it.  You will love it.

But, what to do the next day?

We wanted to use up all of the leftovers in a slightly different way so we decided to make a cottage pie.  For those of you who don’t know, cottage pie is a British casserole dish made using beef (usually ground) very similar to shepherds pie which is traditionally lamb.  I’ve talked before about how I am really not a fan of casserole type dishes, but this is one of those exceptions.  The beauty of recipes like this is you can throw in whatever you’d like, there really aren’t any right or wrong ways to go here.  It’s easy and it reminds me of a hearty winter stew with a twist.

We took the leftover short ribs and cut them into bite sized chunks {maybe 2 cups?} taking care to cut away any fat that was visible.  Then we mixed that with the leftover pan sauce from the short ribs.  Since it was well seasoned already, I gave it just a few shakes of Worcestershire sauce and mixed it all up.  Then I chopped up the leftover parsnips and carrots {about a cup} and added that.  Then, I added a cup of frozen peas and a cup of frozen corn, both thawed and mixed that all in.  Last night we had fingerling potatoes, but I didn’t make a ton so we just picked up a container of mashed potatoes in the deli section of the store to use here and spread them on top.  Next time, I would probably make my own so they can be thicker.

Bake at 350 degrees for 35 - 45 minutes until heated through.  Then you pop it under the broiler for just a minute or two to brown the potatoes on top.  We served flakey biscuits alongside.

Here are some other cottage pie recipes for you to try:

Cottage Pie from Bon Apetit {found at Epicurious}

Shepherd’s Pie from Williams-Sonoma

Vegetarian Shepherd’s Pie from Gourmet {found at Epicurious}

Gordon Ramsay’s Cottage Pie {from his book Great British Pub Food}