Cottage pie is one of my all time fave comforts foods. It is the perfect delivery system of meat, carbs, salt and fat, and as the nights get colder nothing hits the spot like a warming cottage pie. The problem is, it can get out of hand ingredients wise and can actually become quite expensive.

I have a cottage pie recipe from about 5 years ago during better times, which contained hand chopped beef, red wine and all sorts of lovely stuff. This recipe however, is a stripped back version that's more in keeping with the cost of living crisis we are all facing. It's cheap but it's still very tasty, and I'm using a little hack to save you some money too!

To make my cottage pie with a twist you will need:

• 500g minced beef

• 1 stick of celery

• 1 med onion

• 1 med carrot

• 1 clove of garlic

• 1 bay leaf

• About 550ml of beef stock

• 1-2 tbsp of Worcester sauce

• About 2 tbsp of beef gravy granules (use your favourite)

• A couple of handfuls of frozen peas

• Enough hash browns to cover the top (I used 7)

• Onion and chive cheese to top (optional, and use your favourite)

• Salt & pepper