Proper English Cottage Pie is a delicious, very traditional mince pie (beef) topped with mashed potato. Serve with garden peas.
I'm English, and apart from the addition of the pie crust (which I omitted), this is pretty authentic. Like others, I used a little ketchup instead of tomato paste. Also, I used Bisto Gravy Granules (from the British food store I go to) to thicken it. Finally, I threw in a handful of frozen peas. (Btw, Shepherd's Pie is made with ground lamb; Cottage Pie with ground beef). - 07 Oct 2004 (Review from Allrecipes US | Canada)
Being from Australia, cottage pie is a favourite when it comes to comfort food for the family. Overall, this recipe is pretty close to the orignial. Defeinitely omit the cinnamon. Not sure why you would want to add cinnamon to a traditional cottage pie. Like a lot of other reviewers, i added worsteshire sauce, approx 2 teaspoons, as well as 1/2 cup of peas. I'd also recommend cutting back on the cheese. Just enough to brown on top of the mashed potato is sufficient. Finally, stick to lean ground beef...you can cut back on the the oily, greasy film which can overpower the taste of all other ingredients...as well as the waistline - 12 Jan 2011 (Review from Allrecipes US | Canada)
This was very good, but not earth-shaking. I agree with other reviewers on several points: (1) Though cinnamon can add a nice element with red meat, here it comes through too strongly; cut back quite a bit on the amount. (2) Use less milk in the potatoes - just make them however you usually make your mashed potatoes. (3) I used water instead of beef broth and added some worcestershire sauce because the meat mixture seemed to need some extra flavor. Next time I would go a step further and use some garlic and extra seasonings to perk it up. Enjoy! - 09 Feb 2007 (Review from Allrecipes US | Canada)