Cottage Pie

It's been a long time since I'd last made a cottage pie, perhaps 4 or 5 years ago.  I've forgotten about this dish until I browsed through my recipe books.  This pie is easy to make, and I like mine with more vegetables. 

Ingredients:
1 cup carrot, finely diced
1 cup celery, finely diced
1 large red onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/2 cup green peas
500g minced beef, lean meat if possible
1/2 cup of water
1 tsp Knorr beef bouillon powder
1 tbsp tomato paste
2 tomatoes, peeled and diced
1 tbsp cooking oil
salt and pepper to taste
1 tbsp Parmesan cheese powder
some fresh parsley, finely chopped

For the topping:
10 small floury potatoes, peeled and quartered
50g butter
1/2 cup milk
salt and pepper to taste

Serves 4 - 6

To prepare:

1.  Heat the cooking oil in a large pan and cook the onion in medium heat for about 5 minutes or turn brown.  Add the minced beef and garlic ,stir for 3 minutes to brown.  Follow by the carrots and celery and stir for another 3 minutes.
2.  Add the water, beef bouillon powder, tomatoes, tomato paste, green peas and parsley.
3.  Cover and simmer for 20 minutes or until the sauce is almost completely absorb, season with salt and pepper.
4.  Preheat the oven to 190C
5.  To prepare the topping, boil the potatoes until soft.
6.  Drain and mash with the butter and milk, season with salt and pepper. 
7.  Spoon the meat into an ovenproof dish.

8.  Then top with the mash potato.
9.  Use a fork to scratch some lines on the mash and sprinkle the Parmesan cheese powder evenly on top.

10. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown.  Serve immediately.