Rachel Roddy’s Anglo-Italian cottage pie.

- Rachel Roddy’s Anglo-Italian cottage pie recipe | A Kitchen in Rome | Food | The Guardian
The most important part of the recipe is roughing up the surface with a fork, which I am now going to refer to as gadrooning.

100g rindless streaky bacon
3 tbsp lard, dripping, butter or other suitable fat for frying
1 onion, peeled and diced
1 small leek, trimmed and diced
1 carrot, peeled and diced
2 sticks of celery, diced
1 bay leaf
Salt and pepper
400g minced beef
1 tsp Marmite (optional)
300ml light stock
1kg potatoes, peeled
Butter
Whole milk

In a heavy-based pan over a medium low heat, gently fry the bacon in the fat.
Add the onion, celery, leek, carrot, bay leaf and a pinch of salt, and continue frying until the vegetables are starting to soften and turn translucent.

Crumble the mince into the pan and stir, breaking it up and moving it around until it has lost any pinkness.
Add the Marmite (if using) and pour over the stock.
Leave to simmer for an hour, by which point it should be rich and thick with just a little liquid.

Meanwhile, boil the potatoes in well-salted water until tender.
Drain, then mash with butter and milk, seasoning to taste.

Put the mince in the bottom of a Pyrex or porcelain oven-proof dish, then spoon over the mash and fork it into place, creating rough peaks on the top.

Bake on the top shelf of an oven heated to 190C (170C fan)/gas 5 for 25 minutes, until the edges are bobbing and the top is golden.