Quorn cottage pie with cheesy mustard mash
I’ve been holding onto this recipe for a little while - we’ve had quite a warm summer here in the south-east of the UK so it didn’t quite feel appropriate to post such a hearty and warm dish while all I wanted to eat was salad and ice cream! However, the weather has definitely taken a turn for the chilly recently, so it felt appropriate to finally get this one written down and up on the website to share with you all.
Purists of British cuisine will be quick to state that a shepherds pie is made with lamb and cottage pie with beef, meaning that a vegetarian version could well be called a “shepherd-less” pie (or maybe even cottage-less?). I prefer to just stick with a term that everyone knows - after all, a cottage pie doesn’t actually contain any hint of stone or thatched roof.
This recipe is an adaptation of the recipe on Quorn’s website with a few tweaks which I’ve made over the few years I’ve been making it. I’ve changed the seasoning of the mince up a bit, adding fresh herbs along with the onion and carrot at the beginning and cooking out the tomato paste rather than just adding it in neat. I also add a splash of balsamic vinegar into the mix which adds an extra level of savoury flavour which can often be difficult to achieve without meat.
The mash is also my own - as my sister claims, you can never have too much cheese and should measure with your heart when adding it to a dish (feel free to do so with this, but I have suggested a suitable quantity for those looking for precision). Get the most mature Cheddar you can muster and some wholegrain mustard, and your mash is immediately elevated to scrape-the-saucepan levels of deliciousness.
The only bit of this recipe I haven’t perfected is preventing the whole thing from overflowing in the oven; putting a baking tray below the dish at least saves it from reaching the bottom of the oven, but if anyone has any bright ideas on how to reduce spillage then please share! This cottage pie reheats well as leftovers, and will also freeze and keep for a rainy day. Do let me know if you make it - it’s one of our household favourites and I’d love to know what you think of it.
Quorn cottage pie with cheesy mustard mash
Serves: 4 generously | Time taken: 70 mins including prep | Source: inspired by Quorn
Ingredients
For the mince:
1 white onion, finely chopped
1 carrot, diced
1 tsp fresh thyme or rosemary (if using dried, use half the amount)
1 tbsp rapeseed or other vegetable oil
½ tsp fine sea salt
1 tbsp tomato purée
400ml vegetable stock (I make mine with 400ml boiling water and a vegetable stock cube)
100g frozen peas
300g Quorn mince, or other meat free alternative mince
1 tbsp Henderson relish (essentially a vegan version of Worcestershire sauce)
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp cornflour
More salt and pepper to taste
For the mash:
900g white floury potatoes (e.g. King Edward, Maris Piper)
100g mature cheddar
40g unsalted butter
50ml semi-skimmed milk
¼ tsp fine sea salt
1 ½ tsp wholegrain mustard
Method
Preheat your oven to 200°C. Peel and chop the potatoes and place into a large saucepan of cold, salted water. Bring to the boil and then cook for 15 minutes until the potatoes are tender.
Meanwhile, heat a large non-stick pan or wok on a medium heat and add 1 tbsp rapeseed oil. Once the oil is hot, add the chopped onion, carrot and thyme/rosemary with ½ tsp fine sea salt and fry gently for 5-10 minutes until the onion starts to soften and become translucent. Boil the kettle and make up your 400ml vegetable stock.
Add 1 tbsp tomato purée to the vegetables and cook out for 1 minute. Next, add the vegetable stock along with the 300g Quorn mince, 100g frozen peas, 1 tbsp Hendersons Relish, 2 tbsp soy sauce and 1 tsp balsamic vinegar. Mix well and bring to the boil before simmering for 5 minutes, adding any additional salt and pepper to taste.
Mix 1 tbsp cornflour with 1 tbsp cold water, then add the slurry to the mince mixture to help thicken it. Cook for a further minute or two, then take off the heat.
Once the potatoes are cooked, drain off the cooking water and mash well with 40g unsalted butter, 50ml semi-skimmed milk and ¼ tsp fine sea salt. Grate in 100g mature cheddar, and stir in 1 ½ tsp wholegrain mustard. Add more salt or mustard to taste if needed.
Take a large oven dish (with a volume of around 1.5 litres) and place on a baking tray (to help prevent spillage reaching the bottom of the oven!). Add the mince to the bottom of the dish, then dollop the mash on top and spread out with a fork until all of the mince is covered. Place in the oven for 20 minutes until the mash begins to turn golden and crispy. Serve with your choice of green vegetables and enjoy!