Recipe: Skull Creek Boathouse’s Cottage pie bites
A taste of Ireland
Story By Bailey Gilliam
Winter entertaining calls for food that feels warm, familiar and just a little unexpected. These cottage pie bites from Skull Creek Boathouse deliver all the comfort of a classic Irish pub dish, reimagined in a party-friendly form. Wrapped in crisp puff pastry and topped with creamy mashed potatoes and cheddar, they’re rich, savory and easy to share — the kind of small bite that disappears fast and leaves guests asking for the recipe.
Skull Creek Boathouse
Cottage pie bites
Think of these bites as comfort food dressed up for company. They deliver everything you love about a traditional cottage pie, only wrapped in crisp puff pastry and sized for snacking. The filling is rich and savory, the potatoes pipe into soft little peaks, and the cheddar brings the whole thing together. They’re easy to assemble and even easier to disappear from the tray.
Ingredients (meat filling)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 onion, finely diced
1 small carrot, diced
1 garlic clove, minced
16 ounces ground beef
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 tablespoon Worcestershire
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon flour
1/3 cup beef stock
1/4 cup green peas
Directions
[1] Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat
[2] Add onion, carrot and garlic. Saute until softened, 5 to 7 minutes.
[3] Add ground beef and cook until browned, breaking it up as it cooks.
[4] Stir in tomato paste, Worcestershire, thyme, salt and pepper.
[5] Sprinkle flour over the mixture and stir for 1 minute.
[6] Pour in beef stock. Simmer about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until thickened.
[7] Stir in peas. Remove from heat and let cool slightly.
Ingredients (mashed potato topping)
2 medium potatoes, peeled and chopped
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons milk, more if needed
Grated cheddar cheese
Salt and pepper, to taste
Directions
[1] Boil potatoes in salted water until tender, 10 to 12 minutes.
[2] Drain and mash with butter, milk, salt and pepper.
[3] Let cool so the mixture thickens and pipes more easily.
Assembly
[1] Heat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease a muffin pan.
[2] Cut and shape puff pastry into each cavity. Bake about 6 minutes until lightly golden. Remove from oven.
[3] Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees. Fill each pastry cup about two-thirds full with meat filling.
[4] Pipe mashed potatoes over the top. Add a pinch of grated cheddar.
[5] Bake about 10 minutes, long enough for the potatoes to firm up.
