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Year 8

Making beef and lentil cottage pie

I can use food skills to make a beef and lentil cottage pie.

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New
New
Year 8

Making beef and lentil cottage pie

I can use food skills to make a beef and lentil cottage pie.

Link copied to clipboard

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These resources were created for remote use during the pandemic and are not designed for classroom teaching.

Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Cottage pie is usually made with beef and topped with potato, and dates to the 18th century. Shepherd's pie uses lamb.
  2. To diversify protein sources, a mix of meat and beans, pulses and/or legumes can be used. This also increases fibre.
  3. Bacteria can quickly spread betwee raw meat and hands. Before and after handling raw meat, hands must be washed.
  4. The food skills used to make cottage pie include measuring, peeling, dicing, mashing, piping, and using the hob/grill.
  5. There are a number potential sources of food safety/poisoning contamination when storing, preparing and cooking food.

Keywords

  • Pulses - edible seeds from a plant

  • Bacteria - single celled microorganisms, which could cause food poisoning

  • Contamination - the process by which bacteria are transferred from one area to another

  • Piping - to push food through a bag or tube to produce a line or pattern

Common misconception

Leftovers will still be safe to eat after 3 - 4 days, as they still look good.

Leftovers should be used within 48 hours from when it was made (24 hours for rice dishes). Longer periods of time increase the risk of food poisoning bacteria multiplying.


To help you plan your year 8 cooking and nutrition lesson on: Making beef and lentil cottage pie, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Pupils can share piping bags to pipe the mash potato on top of the meat mixture. Alternatively, a fork can be used to spread the potato. If time is tight, omit using the grill - pupils could brown their cottage pies at home.
Teacher tip

Equipment

For ingredients and equipment see the recipe in additional materials.

Content guidance

  • Risk assessment required - may contain allergens
  • Risk assessment required - equipment

Supervision

Adult supervision required

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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6 Questions

Q1.
Match where the following ingredients should be stored.
Correct Answer:tomato purée and stock cubes,cupboard

cupboard

Correct Answer:beef mince and fresh milk,fridge

fridge

Correct Answer:frozen peas,freezer

freezer

Q2.
Tie back before you start to cook.
short hair
Correct answer: long hair
short aprons
long aprons
Q3.
Which of these are sources of protein in the diet?
Correct answer: lentils
potatoes
Correct answer: beef
Correct answer: beans
tomatoes
Q4.
Which of these shows the safest position on the hob?
An image in a quiz
An image in a quiz
Correct Answer: An image in a quiz
An image in a quiz
Q5.
Vegetables such as potatoes and carrot must always be peeled before being cooked.
True
Correct answer: False
Q6.
are microorganisms, some of which can cause food poisoning.
Correct Answer: bacteria

6 Questions

Q1.
What are the main ingredients in a traditional cottage pie?
Correct answer: mashed potato
boiled potatoes
lamb mince
pinto beans
Correct answer: beef mince
Q2.
What is this image showing?
An image in a quiz
draining
Correct answer: piping
dry-frying
mashing
Q3.
All leftovers should be used within 24 hours of cooking.
True
Correct answer: False
Q4.
The recipe uses beef and lentils, helping to diversify sources.
Correct Answer: protein
Q5.
Match the 4Cs with the correct example.
Correct Answer:cleaning,wash hands

wash hands

Correct Answer:cooking,serve food piping hot

serve food piping hot

Correct Answer:chilling,reducing the temperature slows the reproduction of bacteria

reducing the temperature slows the reproduction of bacteria

Correct Answer:cross contamination,keep raw meat separate from ‘ready to eat’ food

keep raw meat separate from ‘ready to eat’ food

Q6.
Put the following beef and lentil cottage pie recipe in the correct order.
1 - First, dice and boil the potatoes.
2 - Dice the onion and carrot.
3 - Dry fry the beef, onion and carrot.
4 - Add the lentils, water, purée and stock.
5 - Cook for 15 minutes, place in a dish.
6 - Drain the potatoes, mash and pipe over the meat.

Additional material

Download additional material