Shepherd's Pie
Lamb mince simmered with vegetables and red wine into a rich, thick filling, topped with buttery mash and parmesan and baked until golden.
- Prep
- 10 min
- Cook
- 1 hr 10 min
- Total
- 1 hr 20 min
- Serves
- 5
From RecipeTin Eats, by Nagi
Ingredients
For the filling
- 1½ tbsp olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 1 carrot, finely chopped
- 1 stalk celery, finely chopped
- ¾ tsp dried thyme, or 2 sprigs fresh thyme
- ¾ tsp dried rosemary, or 1 sprig fresh rosemary
- 750 g minced lamb, or minced beef
- 35 g plain flour
- 55 g tomato paste
- 500 ml beef stock
- 125 ml red wine, or water
- 1 beef stock cube, crumbled
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 2 dried bay leaves
- ¾ tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 1 cup frozen peas
For the mash
For the topping
- 2–3 tbsp parmesan, grated (optional)
- 30 g butter, melted
- fresh thyme leaves, to garnish (optional)
Method
Make the filling
- Heat the oil in a large frying pan over a medium-high heat. Cook the onion and garlic for 1 minute, then add the carrot, celery, thyme and rosemary and cook for 3 minutes, until softened and sweet.
- Turn the heat up to high, add the lamb and cook until browned, breaking it up as you go.
- Stir in the flour, then add the tomato purée, stock, wine, stock cube, Worcestershire sauce and bay leaves. Stir well.
- Bring to a simmer, then lower the heat to medium so that it simmers rapidly. Cook for 30 minutes, stirring now and then, until reduced to a thick gravy. It won't thicken any further in the oven, so cook it until it's as thick as you want it.
- Season with the salt and pepper, adding more to taste. Transfer to a 1.5 litre pie dish and stir through the peas. If you have time, cover and refrigerate for 1–2 hours or overnight. A cool filling is easier to cover and stops the mash weeping into it.
Top and bake
- Heat the oven to 180°C (350°F).
- Boil the potatoes for 15 minutes, until soft. Drain, return them to the pot off the heat and leave to steam dry for about 30 seconds, so that the mash isn't watery.
- Mash in the butter until melted, then add the milk and season with salt and pepper. Mash until soft and smooth, spreadable but not sloppy, adding a touch more milk if needed.
- Spread the hot mash over the filling and draw squiggles over the surface with a fork. Sprinkle with the parmesan and drizzle with the melted butter.
- Bake for 30–40 minutes, until deep golden on top and bubbling at the edges. A knife pushed into the middle should come out piping hot. Leave to stand for 5 minutes, then serve, scattered with thyme leaves if you like.
Notes
- Made with beef instead of lamb, this becomes a cottage pie.
- In a rush, cool the filling in the freezer while you make the mash.
- For extra richness, stir a big handful of grated cheese (cheddar, Gruyère or Monterey Jack) into the mash. You can also swap some of the lamb for chopped vegetables such as courgette or spinach.
- For a gluten-free version, leave out the flour and the Worcestershire sauce, and thicken the sauce by stirring in 2 tbsp cornflour mixed with a splash of water while it simmers.
- To make ahead, assemble the pie without baking it, let it cool, then refrigerate or freeze. Thaw before baking as above, because it takes far too long to bake from frozen.