Making beef and lentil cottage pie
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can use food skills to make a beef and lentil cottage pie.
Key learning points
- Cottage pie is usually made with beef and topped with potato, and dates to the 18th century. Shepherd's pie uses lamb.
- To diversify protein sources, a mix of meat and beans, pulses and/or legumes can be used. This also increases fibre.
- Bacteria can quickly spread betwee raw meat and hands. Before and after handling raw meat, hands must be washed.
- The food skills used to make cottage pie include measuring, peeling, dicing, mashing, piping, and using the hob/grill.
- 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.
Teacher tip
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.
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
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Match where the following ingredients should be stored.
cupboard
fridge
freezer
Q2.Tie back before you start to cook.
Q3.Which of these are sources of protein in the diet?
Q4.Which of these shows the safest position on the hob?
Q5.Vegetables such as potatoes and carrot must always be peeled before being cooked.
Q6. are microorganisms, some of which can cause food poisoning.
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.What are the main ingredients in a traditional cottage pie?
Q2.What is this image showing?
Q3.All leftovers should be used within 24 hours of cooking.
Q4.The recipe uses beef and lentils, helping to diversify sources.
Q5.Match the 4Cs with the correct example.
wash hands
serve food piping hot
reducing the temperature slows the reproduction of bacteria
keep raw meat separate from ‘ready to eat’ food
Q6.Put the following beef and lentil cottage pie recipe in the correct order.
To help you plan your 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...
To help you plan your 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.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 3 cooking and nutrition lessons from the More sustainable diets unit, dive into the full secondary cooking and nutrition curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.