Shepherd Pie

Shepherd Pie

It’s another Shepherd’s Pie recipe.

Another one? Well this is just to post something for the one listed on the old recipes page. Look I’ll be perfectly honest, my favourite type of Shepherd’s Pie is one made with instant gravy, mustard and a splash of red wine. Or one made with just the beef mince and that Salca Intenso Tomato and Olive sauce is good too. I didn’t feel I could do another instant gravy one and I couldn’t find the pasta sauce in the shops.

The thing about Shepherd’s Pie is you can make it many different ways and basically you make any mix of minced beef or lamb with some veg with a bit of sauce or gravy thrown in the liven it up a bit, top it with cream mash potato and cheese and bake until it’s all lovely bubblingly crusty and – well, of course it’s going to be a filling, comforting dish.

I don’t make it that much anymore and I’ve got to admit it’s quite heavy. Also, the Worcestershire sauce is made with barley malt vinegar so it probably contains gluten. Soy sauce is made with wheat flour but I’ve never had a reaction to soy sauce. I’m floored after eating this… oh dear. There is a vegan Worcester sauce made by Bionta which is gluten-free and I think it’s a very good substitute. This is what I use in the Tomato and Puy Lentils soup – not realising it wasn’t the exact correct ingredient – and it’s great in that. I picked up this in the supermarket without thinking or reading the ingredients.

Don’t get me wrong – this is nice.

But this is definitely the last Shepherd’s Pie recipe I’m posting.

ingredients for shepherds pie
Lamb mince, unsmoked pancetta, onion, leek, carrot, celery, thyme, tomato puree, pepper, worcestershire sauce, dark soy sauce, potatoes, butter, salt and cheese

Shepherd Pie

Makes 4 - 6

Shepherd Pie

Ingredients

  • 85g unsmoked pancetta
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 2 leeks, sliced
  • 2 carrots, diced
  • 2 celery sticks, sliced
  • couple of sprigs of thyme
  • pinch of black pepper
  • 400 - 450g lamb mince
  • 1 generous tablespoon dark soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon tomato purée
  • 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce (_or bionta Worcester sauce if you want to make it gluten-free_)
  • pinch of cayenne pepper. optional
  • 7-8 potatoes, peeled, sliced and place in a saucepan with water just covering them
  • butter
  • milk or cream
  • cheddar cheese grated

Instructions

  1. Add the pancetta to a dry deep frying pan. Cook at a low-medium heat for the fat to be released. Stir around every so often - it will take a few minutes.
  2. Add in the onions and thyme, stir around well and cover for a couple of minutes for the onion to soften. Add in the rest of the veg and pepper, stir around well, cover the pan and leave for a few minutes to soften.
  3. Increase the heat, make room in the pan for the mince, add it in and keep stirring around untill all the pink lamb mince has turned light brown. Stir in the soy sauce, tomato purée, Worcestershire sauce and a pinch of cayenne pepper, if using. Reduce the heat, cover the pan and leave to simmer while you cook the potatoes.
  4. Boil the potatoes until they are tender, then remove the pan from the heat and drain off the water. Pour in either some whole milk or cream and a good knob of butter. Mash till smooth and season with salt.
  5. Place the lamb mince in a suitable oven dish or dishes, top with the mash potato and some grated cheddar cheese. Bake in the oven at 200 C until the top is bubbling and golden.
http://twimii.com/recipes/shepherd-pie/

assemble shepherd pies
Mashed potato, meat filling, grated cheddar cheese, ready for assembling shepherd pies.

 

shepherds pies pre-bake
This will make 4 large portion – or 6 normal ones.

 

shepherds pie
Out of the oven – leave it to cool for 10 minutes or so.

 

Shepherd's Pie with broccoli and peas on the side
Shepherd’s Pie with broccoli and peas on the side – a filling winter meal.