Cottage Pie With Lentils Recipe For Baby And Toddler
Table of Contents
Can My 6 Month Old Eat Cottage Pie?
Yes! This has to be our favourite delicious cottage pie recipe! Great for fussy eaters!
The recipe is so delicious and is packed full of veggies and protein! The meat sauce Is rich and luxurious and really is flavoursome.
If you wanted to make this ahead of time, you could make the meat sauce the day before, let it cool, cover and store in the fridge for the next day, heat and then finish it off with the potatoes and cheese.
This is is easily made dairy free and gluten free, I have explained below how to do that.
If you did want to make this vegan, all you would need to do is follow the instructions below and choose your vegan mince of choice. I have made this recipe vegan before and it is just as tasty. You will need to use a vegan beef stock cube too!
Beef Mince For BLW
Including beef mince in baby-led weaning can be a nutritious and flavourful choice for little ones. As babies transition to solid foods, introducing minced beef can offer a range of essential nutrients, including iron, zinc, and protein, which are vital for growth and development.
In addition to its nutritional value, beef mince stimulates different textures and tastes, helping babies explore new sensations and develop their chewing skills. It is crucial, though, to ensure the mince is cooked thoroughly and presented in a manageable, safe size for infants to handle and eat independently.
By including beef mince in the baby-led weaning journey, parents can introduce a variety of tastes while providing essential nutrients to support their child's healthy development.
The Benefits Of Potatoes For BLW
Including potatoes in baby-led weaning can be a great way to introduce a versatile and nutrient-rich food to your little one's diet. Potatoes are a fantastic source of carbohydrates, fibre, and various vitamins and minerals, making them an excellent choice for their growing bodies.
One of the best things about potatoes is their soft texture, which makes them easy for babies to grasp and manage independently. Whether baked, steamed, or mashed, potatoes provide a blank canvas for creativity by pairing them with other baby-friendly foods like avocado, peas, or soft-cooked carrots.
Remember to always cook potatoes until they are soft and easily mashed with a fork to ensure they are safe for your baby to enjoy during this exciting stage of exploration and self-feeding.
The Flavours Of A Cottage Pie
The combination of carrot, onion, and celery in a cottage pie recipe is simply magical. Each of these humble vegetables brings its own unique flavour and texture to the dish, creating a symphony of taste.
Carrots add a subtle sweetness and vibrant colour, while onions provide a rich depth and savoury note. Celery, with its crispness and slight bitterness, brings a refreshing contrast. When sautéed together, these three ingredients release their natural aromas and meld beautifully, imparting a wonderful complexity to the filling.
From the first savoury bite to the last, the carrot, onion, and celery trio elevates the cottage pie to new heights, making it a comforting and utterly delicious dish that will warm your soul.
The Herbs
Thyme and rosemary make a remarkable combination when it comes to dried herbs. These culinary powerhouses bring distinct flavours and aromas that beautifully complement each other.
The earthy and slightly minty notes of thyme perfectly harmonise with the pine-like and woody undertones of rosemary. Together, they create a robust and well-rounded flavour profile that elevates any dish they grace.
Whether sprinkled over roasted vegetables, added to hearty stews, or infused into marinades, the blend of thyme and rosemary adds depth, complexity, and a touch of Mediterranean charm to your culinary creations.
With their versatility and ability to enhance a wide range of dishes, thyme and rosemary stand as a timeless herbal pairing that never fails to impress.
My son loves this recipe and it’s one of his favourites. It’s great to be able to make a meal that the whole family will love. Or you could just make it for your little one and freeze the rest for an easy meal from the freezer one day.
This recipe is so tasty that you will have to give it a go!
Ingredient information
Onions - Great as the base of a cottage pie, let them cook down and caramelise!
Carrot - Great not only for flavour, but as an extra veggie on the plate!
Celery - Coupled with the onion and the carrot make a great base for any pie recipe!
Garlic - Garlic can be left out if you do not like it too much! But it really does add a punch to this cottage pie.
Beef mince (ground beef) - I used a mince that was 5% fat, if you were to use a higher fat percentage, try to drain off some of the fat.
Plain flour - the flour soaks up the fat from the mince, and also acts as a sauce thickener so a key ingredient for the recipe as a whole.
Tomato paste - Concentrated and yummy, as there are no tinned tomatoes added in my recipe, the tomato purée adds a depth of flavour to the pie.
Dried thyme - So tasty against all ingredients.
Dried rosemary - Pairs well with the thyme.
Black pepper - I only season with black pepper and no salt.
Zero salt beef stock cube - the tastiness of a stock without the salt. Perfect for babies and toddlers and adults too!
Potatoes - The perfect topping for the pie, if you wanted to use a potato ricer as well as mashing you absolutely could for a creamier texture. You could also use sweet potatoes for a sweet potato mash topping.
Leeks - The leeks adds a tasty addition to the mashed potato, I always add a leek to mash now!
Cheddar cheese - The melted cheese on top of the pie is the best bit! The more the merrier!
Whole milk - I find adding milk makes for a creamier mash!
Unsalted butter - Adding butter to the mash makes a tasty mash, you can leave this out if you would like.
Serving suggestion
You can serve the cottage pie with vegetables such as broccoli, green beans, or roasted carrots or mixed veg mix from the freezer!
Or I know some people out there like cottage pie with baked beans, so you could serve with some reduced salt and sugar beans or even make your own homemade baked beans and tomato ketchup.
Storage instructions
You can keep the cottage pie in the fridge for up to 3 days in an airtight container, so great if you would like to portion up for dinners in the week, you could use small airtight containers to do this
The cottage pie can also be frozen for up to 3 months in the freezer, in airtight containers, large or small. If freezing, let the cottage pie cool down to room temperature before popping in the freezer.
To defrost the cottage pie, defrost in the fridge overnight, to reheat, transfer from your airtight container into an oven proof dish, pre heat the oven to 180 C or 350F and heat for 20-25 minutes and enjoy.
Once defrosted you will not be able to re freeze.
Equipment Used To Help With This Recipe
Airtight Container - large - I much prefer the click-shut lids on these containers compared to others. They are also dishwasher and freezer safe and BPA free, so very suitable for food use.
Saucepan - So many pan sets out there but I particularly like to use pans with a non-stick surface for ease of cleaning and ones that are suitable for different types of hob surface.
Pie dish - A classic enamel pie dish is great for making individual pies and crumbles.I like these enamel dishes as there is even heat distribution, which means it's easy to achieve perfect crispy pie crusts. It even has a flat edge for a classic crusty rim. Also, it is suitable for oven or stovetop use, and is 100% freezer safe and dishwasher safe
Oven proof dish - The design of this ovenproof dish allows for self-basting and will keep the food moist. It also has a non-stick coating, so is easy to clean!
Recipe | Cottage Pie With Lentils Recipe For Baby And Toddler
Cottage Pie With Lentils
Ingredients
Instructions
- Start my heating the olive oil in a large saucepan.
- Add in the onion, carrot and celery and cover and cook on a medium heat for at least 15 minutes (longer if possible). Stir a few times to check it is not sticking. Add a splash of water if it is.
- Once soft and starting to brown add in the garlic. Add in the beef mince meat, and break up using a spoon. Cook for 5 minutes until brown.
- Add in the flour, tomato purée, thyme, lentils, rosemary and stir.
- Add in the stock cube and water and stir.
- Cover the saucepan and simmer for 30 minutes. Once the 30 minutes is up, leave on the lowest heat setting.
- Boil the potatoes in a saucepan for 15 minutes. Once boiled, drain and return to saucepan.
- Heat the olive oil in a frying pan, and cook the leaks for 10 minutes until soft and golden. Set aside.
- Mash the potatoes and add the leaks, butter and milk and mix.
- Pour the mince into a pie dish, top with the potatoes and leaks and sprinkle with the cheese.
- Pop under the grill for 5-10 minutes, until golden. Keep an eye on the pie as you do not want it to burn!
- (If you have made the cottage pie filling in advance and the potatoes in advance, both will be cold. If this is the case, assemble as explained, sprinkle with the cheese and pre heat your oven to 180C or 350F and pop in the oven for 25-30 minutes.)
Notes
To make this recipe gluten free, all you will need to do is use a gluten free flour to replace the plain flour.
Knorr zero salt beef stock cubes are gluten and lactose free!
If you wanted to make the recipe dairy free, choose a dairy free butter or margarine and choose an oat milk of choice to replace the whole milk, and leave out the cheddar cheese or you could choose a vegan cheese.
If you wanted to make the recipe meat-free you would make this a veggie cottage pie by adding in 400g green lentils or puy lentils.
Hope you and your family enjoy!
©The Petit Spoon
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