Maggi Cottage Mince Pie

Ingredients
1kg beef mince
400g tin canned tomatoes
1 packet Maggi Cottage Mince Pie recipe base
Carrot
Garlic
Onion
Peas
Potato
Milk

Method
Prepare potatoes:
Peel and chop potatoes and put them on to boil.
While these are cooking, put a large saucepan on a high heat.
Cook mince:
Brown mince.
When they are almost cooked through, add tomatoes and recipe base and stir through.
Peel and dice carrot - toss them in!
Peel and dice onion - toss that in too :)
Put a handful of peas in and warm through.
Add garlic.
When the mince is fully cooked, turned the heat down and keep it warm until the potatoes are ready.
Complete potatoes & assemble pie:
Remove the potatoes from the heat, drain the water and return to the saucepan.
Mash the potatoes and add a small amount of milk.
Stir until a mashed consistency is achieved.
Put mince into oven proof dish and even out over the bottom.
Layer mashed potato over the top of the mince.
Put the dish into the oven on approximately 180 degrees Celsius and leave for about 30 minutes.
You should have a lovely crisp skin over the top when you remove your dish - my two year old was too demanding to leave my dish in there quite long enough! lol
Serve in the middle of the table for everyone to help themselves. My hubby got creative and garnished it with fresh tomato and salad onion.

This is a very simple Shepherds Pie, basically. It's not quite MY usual recipe, but it was still really nice and was quicker to cook than my normal dish. These recipe bases are really very good, especially for people who have young children or work full time. Don't be scared to try things that make cooking quicker and easier, sometimes it works out just as well. For example, not only did I try using this recipe base for dinner tonight - which isn't one that I have used before - but I used instant mashed potato for the top layer! Can you believe it? It's not quite the same as fresh potatoes, but it's pretty damn close.