Lesego’s cottage pie is the comfort food you need today

• For the filling:
• 1 lightly smoked snoek (about 500 g)
• 100 g butter, melted
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• ½ onion, finely chopped
• 200 g brown mushrooms, sliced
• 100 g fresh peas
• 1 cup cream
• 1 cup milk
• 35 g flour
• ½ t nutmeg
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

For the topping:

• 1 kg Woolworths Apache Potatoes
• 2 T butter
• 2 T chopped chives
• ½ cup cream
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1. To make the filling, drizzle the snoek with 1 T melted butter and the lemon juice. Grill until done (you can also braai it for an extra-smokey flavour). Set it aside to cool slightly. Flake the snoek and remove the bones and skin.
2. In a separate pan, sauté the garlic and onion in the remaining butter until soft and translucent. Add the mushrooms and peas and fry over a medium heat for 1 minute.
3. Whisk the milk, cream and flour together and add to the pan. Stir continually to make sure lumps don’t form. Simmer for 1 minute. Once the sauce is thick, add the flaked snoek and stir to combine. Season to taste. If the mixture seems too thick, loosen it a bit with more milk. Spoon the mixture into an ovenproof casserole or serving dish.
4. To make the filling, peel and cut the potatoes into equal-sized cubes (this allows for even cooking). Cook the potatoes in about 1.5 litres of simmering water until tender.
5. Drain the potatoes through a sieve and place the sieve over a bowl. While the potatoes are still hot, use the back of a wooden spoon to push the potatoes through the sieve. This prevents lumpy mash.
6. Add the butter, chives and enough cream to make the mash soft but not runny. Season to taste.
7. Scoop the mash onto the filling. You can grill it to get a nice golden and crispy top to your cottage pie, or crack some pepper on top and top with breadcrumbs, then serve immediately.

(Serves 6)

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