Shepherds Pie – The Ultimate Comfort Food?

1 tbsp sunflower oil and 1 tbsp butter
1 onion, chopped
2 Carrots, finely diced
2 sticks Celery, finely chopped
1 bay leaf
3 sprigs Thyme
2 tbsp Parsley, chopped
675g minced lamb
1 tbsp plain flour
2 tbsp tomato ketchup
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
About 1 pint water (and more if needed)
1 pinch salt and fresh ground black pepper

• 900g Potatoes, cooked in their skins


• 60g Butter


• 150ml Milk


• Pinch Nutmeg, freshly grated

1. Take a large deep pan and heat half the fat in it. Then you need to add the vegetables, and fry gently, turning frequently until just tinged with brown at the corners. Scoop the vegetables out onto a plate and set them aside for later.


2. For the next stage I like to cook the lamb in two batches so that the meat is well and truly crisply cooked and properly browned first.
   Raise the heat under the pan and add half the mince. Pat it down and leave it to fry without for several minutes until the it has browned underneath, this will give the cooked mince a good rich brown colour, a lovely deep flavour. Now break up the mince and turn it over. Repeat the browning process, and then lift the mince out of the pan with a slotted spoon and set aside.


3. Repeat with other half of the mince.


4. Drain off any excess fat from the pan, then return the mince and vegetables to it. Sprinkle the flour over the mince and vegetable mix and stir for about 30 seconds. Now add the herbs together with the water, tomato ketchup and Worcestershire sauce. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.


5. Bring the mixture to the boil, then turn the heat down very low, and leave it to simmer gently for about 50 minutes, checking the pan every now and then, adding a little more water if it needed. When it is cooked, the mixture should be lovely and moist, succulent and thick. If it seems a little bit watery just carry on cooking so that some of the liquid evaporates. Check the seasoning, then tip the mixture into a deep pie dish and leave to cool.


6. Preheat the oven to 190°C/gas 5. Scoop the potato flesh out of the skins, and mash with 45g butter and enough milk to give the mash a consistency which is fairly soft, but holds its shape.


7. Spoon the mashed potato over the mince, then spread it down lightly in an even layer. I generally use a fork to make wavy lines (or some other interesting pattern) on the surface, then dot the mash with the remaining butter.


8. Bake the Shepherds Pie for around 30 minutes until the mashed potato is crunchy on top and the juices from the meat are bubbling up round the edge.