This big trough of awesomeness is a slight adaptation of a recipe I saw recently in Fine Cooking magazine, which is fast becoming one of my favorite food publications. In my continuing effort to purge the fridge of long held condiments I decided to try this dish as a means to polish off some cerignola olives and peppadew peppers we had lying about. Yeah….this baby was a two-fer in our quest to pare down the number of bottles, cans and plastic tubs we've accumulated over the past year.
While it meay be that we turned to this dish as a fridge cleaner, we'll go back to it again and again (and again, if Arthas has anything to do with it) because it flat-out rocks with salty, sweet and umami tastes in perfect balance. Those of you feeling the urge to run screaming from this cottage pie because just seeing the name is dragging up memories of grade-school lunch ladies serving you a dish of the same name, DON'T. This dish is as far a cry from the cottage pie of your elementary school youth as Barbara Streisand is from Ke$ha.
Do I make myself clear?
Our take on this dish is basically a double recipe of the Fine Cooking original (makes for unbelievably good and easily microwave reheat-able left-overs) with a slight change in the olives called for, and the addition of peppadew peppers which add a lovely sweet-hot pickled hint to the dish.
Promise me you'll make this one soon.
Cheers – Steve
Sweet Potato Cottage Pie
Ingredients
For the topping:
- 3 large sweet potatoes (about 3 lb. total)
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1/2 cup finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- Kosher salt and Freshly ground black pepper to taste
For the filling:
- 4 medium celery stalks, cut into 1/4-inch dice (about 1 1/2 cups)
- 2 large carrots, cut into 1/4-inch dice (about 1 1/2 cups)
- 2 medium onions, finely chopped (about 3 cups)
- Kosher salt and Freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 6 medium cloves garlic, minced
- 4 teaspoons ground cumin
- 4 teaspoons chopped fresh oregano or 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 2 teaspoons ancho chile powder or other pure chile powder
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 3 lbs. ground beef (85% lean)
- 1 28-oz. can whole peeled tomatoes
- 1 cup coarsely chopped cerignola or other green olives
- 12 peppadew peppers, finely sliced
- 2/3 cup coarsely chopped dried cranberries
Instructions
Prepare the toppping:
- Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 425°F. Line a heavy-duty rimmed baking sheet with foil. Slice the sweet potatoes in half lengthwise and set them cut side down on the baking sheet. Roast until very tender, about 30 minutes When cool enough to handle, scoop the flesh into a medium mixing bowl. Add the milk, cheese, butter, 1 tsp. salt, and 1/2 tsp. pepper and beat with an electric hand mixer on low speed until smooth and creamy, about 1 minute. Set aside.
- Prepare the filingHeat the oil in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add the celery, carrot, onion, and 2 teaspoons of salt. Reduce the heat to medium and cook, stirring frequently, until the vegetables are soft, fragrant, and starting to turn golden, 10 to 15 minutes. Add the garlic, cumin, oregano, chile powder, and cinnamon and cook for 30 seconds. Add the beef, season with 4 teaspoons of salt, and cook until no longer pink, about 5 minutes. Tilt the pan and spoon off all but about 2 tablespoons of the fat; return the pan to the heat. Pour the tomatoes and their juice into a small bowl and crush them with your hands or a fork. Add the tomatoes to the meat and cook, uncovered, until thick, 10 to 12 minutes. Add the olives and dried cranberries and cook for another minute; season to taste with more salt and freshly ground black pepper if needed.