Sweet Mama Cottage Pie

I love the green of the Sweet Mama, but as I should have learned last year, it doesn’t keep very long. While I was looking up recipes for the Ufos, my Sweet Mama developed a soft white spot on one side, and another by the stem. Please remind me to use the green one first next year.

When the weather is dismal, make yourself a cottage pie with a bright orange top. Note: The recipe I used calls it a “shepherd’s pie”, but it’s not made with lamb, so it cannot be. Words still mean things here at the Radish the Great Experience.

(“The recipe also calls for butternut squash, Radish.” I noticed that. Purees leave a lot of room for experimentation with other varieties.)

This was a two-day project, although it doesn’t have to be.

Day One: Roasting and Smashing

As usual, popped two halves, cut side down, into a 200°C oven for an hour. I love the deep orange.

It got so soft I could use a potato masher instead of getting out the electric blender. It measured out three cups, which I refrigerated for the next day.

Day 2: Supper

Since I only had three cups of puree and the recipe called for four, I decided to make too many mashed potatoes and use a tiny bit of them, as normal people do, right? Since the puree was cold, I warmed it on the stove before adding the butter and cheeses–and then I forgot to add the herbs. It definitely would have been better with the herbs. Don’t forget to add the herbs.

The base of the pie was…unremarkable. Might be my fault; I didn’t have enough frozen peas, so I added some carrots. I should have just made a mirepoix and browned the ground beef separately, but I followed the directions and cooked it with the celery and onions.

The meat sauce is thickened with flour. I have never gotten this to work out for me, and guess what? This recipe was no exception. And the usual umami-bringers and flavor enhancers like Worcestershire sauce or red wine were missing completely.

At this point, I was hungry, so I skipped the “put the pumpkin into a pastry bag and do some decorative nonsense” step. The filling didn’t leak out of the top layer, and that’s what’s important.

The final dish was very soupy. It was tasty enough, but next year I will use my usual cottage pie recipe for the base and just swap out the pumpkin-cheese puree for the top layer. I also couldn’t taste any of the mashed potatoes, but they did provide some stability that pure pumpkin wouldn’t.

Kürbisfest 2024 rolls on…and there’s still three cups of puree in the freezer…