Minced Beef Hotpot

Minced beef hotpot. Best quality minced beef cooked in gravy with onions, carrots, swede and peas then topped with wafer thin potatoes and baked in the oven until golden and crispy.
I didn't have a recipe for this and have never made it before. I made it much like I would a Shepherds or cottage pie but topped it with very thinly sliced potatoes instead of the usual mash.
Although I'm not a huge fan of Oxo cubes, the only time I use them is in Shepherds pie or beef stew - just my preference, but nothing else seems to work in these dishes. So in this I used a beef Oxo cube.



Serves two:

You will need:
500g minced beef - with low fat content
2 medium onions - sliced thinly
1 x 400g good quality tinned tomatoes
2 carrots - peeled and sliced
1/2 of a small swede - peeled and diced
a good handful of cooked peas
Bisto gravy powder
1 x beef Oxo cube
a good shake of Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons of Colman's English mustard
a good squirt of tomato puree
4 potatoes - peeled and sliced very thinly using a mandolin slicer
melted butter
salt and black pepper to season

Preheat your oven to 200C 400F or Gas 6

How to do it:
Put the minced beef into a large saucepan and add only enough cold water to only just about cover the meat. Add the onion and partly cover with a lid and bring to a boil.
In another pan cook the carrots and swede in slightly salted water until nice and tender. Drain and set aside.
Also cook the peas in slightly salted water, drain and set aside.

When the meat and onions have started to boil, crumble the Oxo cube in along with a good splash of Worcestershire sauce and the tin of tomatoes.
Bring to the boil again and then turn the heat down low and let it cook for a good while until the meat is cooked and the onions are tender.

Now, in a cup add two good sized heaped teaspoons of Bisto along with a teeny bit of cold water and mix together. Pour this into the pan with the meat and onions in, stirring so you don't get lumps.
Add the tomato puree and mustard. Cook for a while over a low heat. Add the precooked carrots and swede.
If the gravy isn't thick enough add a little more Bisto.
Taste to check for seasoning adding a little more Worcestershire sauce or English mustard if you fancy it needs it.

Once your happy with the taste - drain the gravy into another saucepan and for goodness sake don't throw it away - keep it for later!
Spoon the meat and vegetable mixture into an oven proof dish and gently stir in the precooked peas.

Using a mandolin (otherwise you will not get the potatoes sliced thin enough) the plan is they are so thin you can almost see through them.
Add a couple of layers of sliced potato and then very lightly season with salt and pepper.
Now brush with a little melted butter and add another good few layers (you won't need to season every layer or it will be too salty). Brush again with a little melted butter and repeat - remembering to season but go careful with the salt.
You can carry on till you think you have enough potato but the final layer must have melted butter on.



Pop into your preheated oven for about 45 minutes to an hour - or until the potatoes are nicely cooked, crispy and golden brown. If your potatoes are too thick they will take an age to cook and everything else will be dried up.
Heat up the gravy you saved from earlier and serve on a plate with a little gravy.