Nico's Cook In, Cook Out

Beef Shin and Bacon Cottage Pie

Name: Beef Shin and Bacon Cottage Pie
Total time: 300 min
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients: 1kg of beef shin; 1kg chuck steak, cut into chunks; 4 tbsp plain flour; 3 Hickory Smoked rashers, thinly sliced; 3 celery sticks, finely chopped; 2 onions, finely chopped; 2 carrots, finely chopped; 5 garlic cloves, finely chopped; 2 tbsp tomato puree; 2 bay leaves; A few sprigs of thyme; 2 bay leaves; 250ml of red wine, or increase quantity of beef stock; 500 ml beef stock; 500 ml water; For the mash; 4 potatoes; 100g butter; 100ml milk; 1 egg yolk; 100g Parmesan; Chives, to garnish

Nico ReynoldsFrom the series · Nico's Cook In, Cook Out

300 min totalServes 4Medium

Time300 min

Serves4

SkillMedium

ShowAll Fired Up

Method

Just over the base of your pan with oil and let it heat up

Add your bacon and once it is crispy

Add the carrot, onion and celery celery and allow to soften

Then add your garlic and sauté for 5 minutes

Add the tomato paste and then the wine

Finally add the 500 mls of beef stock, the bay leaves and thyme.

Dust the beef with the plain flour and brown on all sides in a large pan, work in batches.

Add the beef into the ragu (vegetable base) pot as they are browned.

Add 500 mls of water and Simmer over a very low heat for 3 hours OR put it into the oven at 160 until the beef is tender, approx 2 / 3 hours.

For the mash: preheat the oven to 200C

Make a small cut around the equator of the potatoes then place into the oven and bake for 1 hour until completely tender.

Add the butter and milk to a large pot and heat until the butter melts

Remove the skins and pass the potato through a sieve or potato ricer directly into the milk/butter mixture.

Fold in the potatoes and stir until the mash is creamy. Season with salt, pepper and some chopped chives. Remove from the heat and stir through the egg yolk.

To assemble: remove the bones and sinews from the beef ragu

Place it in the bottom of a pie dish then top with the mash and finally sprinkle over the grated parmesan and a little more chive.

Cook in the oven for 15 mins until golden and bubbling.

Cook's notes

Brown the floured beef in batches — crowd the pan and the meat steams grey instead of building the deep colour that flavours the whole braise.
Low and slow is the point: a bare simmer for three hours on the hob, or 160C in the oven, until the shin is falling apart. Rushing it with more heat just toughens the meat.
Bake the potatoes in their skins rather than boiling them — drier flesh makes a firmer, less watery mash that holds its shape and crisps on top.
Stir the egg yolk into the mash off the heat so it enriches without scrambling, and let it help the top go golden under the grill.
The ragu is even better made a day ahead — the flavour deepens overnight, and cold, set filling is far easier to top neatly with mash.

Serve with Buttered greens or peas on the side, and maybe a spoonful of sharp pickle or good mustard to cut the richness. A glass of the same red wine you braised it in won't go amiss.

Make ahead & storage Keeps well in the fridge for up to 3 days and reheats beautifully — cover and warm through at 180C until piping hot in the centre. Assembled or unassembled, it also freezes for up to 3 months.

Recipe by Nico Reynolds · From the series Nico's Cook In, Cook Out · Photography © Appetite Media
Published 13 July 2026 · Updated 15 July 2026

Nutrition

Per serving · estimated

1401kcal

126gprotein

70gcarbs

63gfat

Approximate — calculated from the ingredient list using USDA food data. A guide, not a medical figure.

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