Method
Brown the beef in a large skillet. Add onion and carrot and cook until tender. Add garlic, tomato paste, and thyme.
Sprinkle in the flour and cook for 1 minute. Stir in stock and Worcestershire and simmer until thick. Fold in peas and season.
Spread the filling in a baking dish and top evenly with mashed potatoes. Rough the surface with a fork and brush with melted butter.
Bake at 400°F until bubbling and browned, 25–30 minutes. Rest for 10 minutes.
Notes
Cottage pie uses beef; the lamb version is shepherd's pie.
Component recipes
These are direct ingredients or options used by the recipe above.
- For the prepared mashed-potato topping, use Creamy Mashed Potatoes.
Related recipes and techniques
These are extensions, technique comparisons, or serving relationships; the complete recipe above remains usable as written.
- The beef filling uses the same brown-sauce logic—browned aromatics, tomato, flour, and stock—as Espagnole Mother Sauce, but retains its complete standalone method above.