The old ones are the best

A variation on a cottage pie

Yes - I don't really have a proper name for this dinner. It's a bit like a cottage pie but with minor twists, essentially!

First of all I get the boring bit out of the way - peel two potatoes (Maris Piper seem to do the trick), cut them into small cubes and boil them for a while ... probably about ten minutes. Just a bit longer than you'd usually boil potatoes for, so that they're starting to break up and are very soft to the touch. Once they're done, drain them and add a little bit of double cream (or milk, if you don't want it to be too calorific) and mash them until they're very smooth. And phew - that's the potatoes done. I hate mashing!

Next I slice one small red onion very finely and gently fry it in a tiny bit of olive oil. Once it's started to go opaque I add a splash of red wine and turn up the heat until the alcohol evaporates. You can tell when this is, because if you bend your head over the pan and sniff it shouldn't sting your nose!

So - winey onions coming along nicely, I turn my attention elsewhere by peeling and chopping one small carrot, placing it in a bowl in just enough water to cover it, and blitzing it for about a minute and a half in the microwave. When it's done, I add the drained carrot pieces to the pan with the onions and use the water to make up about a third of a pint of gravy (usually three teaspoons of beef gravy granules, half a vegetable stock cube and another splash of red wine - but this can be varied to 'the gravy of your choice', if you're the sort of person to have such a thing!).

Next I add the minced beef to the onions and carrots. I always go for lean steak mince - a little more expensive, but it's worth the extra cost not to have fat seeping out as soon as it starts to cook. Once it's started to brown I add a pinch of paprika, some black pepper and squeeze of tomato puree to the pan, then stir in the gravy and let the whole lot simmer for about five minutes on a really low heat.

To assemble the whole thing, I spoon the mince mixture into a shallow baking dish and place thin slices of tomato across the top, just enough to cover the mince. The creamed potato is usually just sufficient to provide a thin layer on top, and I scatter some grated Parmesan over it before placing it into a hot oven for about ten minutes. I just like to wait until the cheese is melted and stringy, and some potato peaks have gone brown and crispy. I normally serve this with some green vegetables and a glass of red wine on a cool autumn evening!