Cooking has been very much simplified in our household now due to both our hectic schedules. Some days I have about an hour to spare between travelling to different work places, so we usually settle on a main meat with simple side dishes. Most lunches (if I’m eating at home) for me would just be steak and eggs. Dinner would be maybe pork chop, or braised pork belly, perhaps pressure cooked pork ribs, or beef stew. But don’t get me wrong, we still manage to eat deliciously and nutritiously for sure. After all, food can be delicious without over complicating it.

However, the ultimate comfort food for me would still be something that comes out from an oven. I think this is a habit from those days living in Australia. Currently we are on school holidays which means I spend a little bit more time at home! And this is the time I make a Cottage Pie inspired dish: the beef mince is simply cooked with Beef, Tomatoes, and maybe a little bit of onion and carrots, and the “mash” would just be replaced with a white sauce that is not quite Bechamel, but yet creamy and cheesy and satisfying.

I know, I know, this dish is not much to look at. I could probably dress it up with some herbs but since it’s only for my own consumption I care more about how it tastes and nourishes me instead! Compared to a regular Cottage pie, there are significantly less ingredients and less steps for this. I’d say it’s more like cross between pasta-less lasagna and mash-less cottage pie, but definitely still full of flavours! I also have a Keto Beef Moussaka recipe that is slightly more complicated but great for eggplant lovers.

First, we will need to make the meat sauce. I usually make a larger batch so I can freeze it to use it another time. If there is already a frozen one at hand, it’s just a matter of thawing it, reheat, make the white sauce and then bake. Super fast!

Keto “Not Cottage Pie”

Meat Sauce (all ingredients are estimate only) this will give you more than one portion

500g Grass Fed Mince Beef

1 Canned Tomatoes (preferably diced type, if you have whole tomatoes, you can squeeze them to break them up first)

1 Onion (Minced)

1 Bay leaf

1 carrot (minced)

Spices are optional but cajun seasoning is a good one, or you can add some paprika too

Heat some olive oil in pressure cooker and add beef, onion and carrot and stir fry until the colour changed. Add canned diced tomatoes and bay leave. season with salt and pepper then pressure cook for 20 minutes. Once done and pressure released, open and saute until the sauce thickens.

For non pressure cooker version: saute onion and carrot in oil of your choice, then add beef to fry together until there’s no more liquid oozing out and everything starts to colour. Add tomatoes and bay leaf and season. Cook on low heat, adding water if needed, until everything comes together. Your meat sauce is done! Save half for another time (or use all if you are doing a bigger batch) Take an oven safe casserole dish and spoon enough meat sauce to cover the bottom.

Low carb white sauce

120ml Whipping Cream or Heavy Cream (or more, if you prefer it to be creamier)

Huge handful of shredded cheese of your liking

1 egg

Heat cream and cheese on low heat until cheese melted, turn off the heat and stir in egg until combined. Season with salt and you can sprinkle some nutmeg if you prefer. Now you can pour the white sauce over the meat sauce.

Bake the mixture in 180c oven until the top is nice and brown, around 15-20 minutes. Let it rest for at least 15 minutes before devouring it!

This is definitely just a base recipe, you can customise the meat sauce to your liking. Add mushrooms, bacon, or other vegetables to vary it up can be fun too! Enjoy experimenting in the kitchen and eat well!