When the nights get darker and the temperatures drop there's nothing I love more than a warming, homemade Shepherd's Pie. If you could sum up Winter in a dish, I think this would probably be it! This Shepherd's Pie recipe is comfort cooking at it's finest. It reminds me of English countryside getaways spent in cosy village cottages, eating pie snuggled up next to a roaring fire.
It's a difficult dish to get wrong. There are no complex flavours or techniques required. With a lot of prep and cooking time it's not a quick weeknight dinner but for a leisurely family Sunday meal it's perfect. In fact the tastiness lies in the longer cooking time, allowing the flavours of the tomato, wine, Worcestershire sauce and stock to infuse into the meat and veg so every bite packs a punch. You can easily customise as desired : sub out the lamb for beef if preferred, and mix up your vegetables. To make it vegetarian switch out the meat entirely and sub in mushrooms.
Shepherd's Pie is pretty simple to master. It's essentially just two dishes, a lamb mixture and mash, slapped together to make one tasty layered pie. You ideally want to start by prepping the veg, as there's very little time to do so during the cooking process. The lamb mixture can also be made in advance if you're tight for time.
Whilst the lamb mixture is left simmering it's time to whip up the mash. Mash is probably one of my favourite ways to enjoy potatoes; indulgently fluffy loaded up with cream and butter. I've included measurements as a guide, but honestly the amount of cream and butter really depends on how hard your potatoes are, and also personal preference on how you like your mash! Definitely be generous with the salt, as mash can taste really bland without it. Keep tasting as you mash it, and add seasoning as required.
Cheese isn't a traditional Shepherd's Pie ingredient, but I just love the crispy golden layer it gives it. Besides, what recipe isn't improved by copious amounts of cheese?! I used grated cheddar, but a Red Leicester or really any simple hard cheese would do. You want to cook the pie until the cheese is nice and brown and crisping around the edges. I achieved this by popping on the grill and grilling it for the last couple of minutes.
How to Make Shepherd's Pie
Shepherd's Pie Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 yellow onion diced
- 2/3 carrots peeled and diced
- 2/3 celery sticks diced
- 2/3 garlic cloves minced
- 1 kg medium/large potatoes peeled and quartered
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 kg lamb mince
- 1 tbsp plain flour
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 300 ml lamb stock
- 100 ml red wine
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 can chopped tomatoes
- 75 grams frozen peas
- 200 ml double cream
- 2 tbsp butter
- grated cheddar
- salt
- pepper
Instructions
- Heat 1 tbsp of olive oil in a large saucepan on medium heat. When hot add your onions and cook for 5 minutes, stirring regularly, until soft and golden.
- Add your garlic followed by the celery and carrots and cook, stirring regularly for 5-10 minutes until softened.
- Add your lamb mince and stir to break down, along with the thyme and oregano. Cook until meat is just brown and no pink remains. Stir in the flour.
- Add the bay leaf, tomato paste, soy sauce, red wine, tomato paste, chopped tomatoes, Worcestershire sauce and lamb stock. Season with 1/2 tsp each of salt and pepper. Simmer for 20 minutes, stirring every few minutes to ensure the mixture doesn’t stick. Add in the frozen peas and cook for a further 5-10 minutes, until the mixture has thickened and very little liquid remains. Once cooked, leave to cool for 10 minutes.
- Whilst the mixture is cooking, set the oven to 220 degrees Celsius, and bring a large slightly salted pot of water to the boil.
- When boiling add the potato to the pot and simmer on medium heat for 20-25 minutes until fork tender. Drain the potatoes and set aside. Combine cream and butter in the same pot on low heat. Add the potatoes back in, turn off the heat and mash until smooth. Season with 1 tbsp each of salt and pepper. Make sure to taste as you go along, mash can need a surprising amount of salt!
- In a large baking tray, spoon out the lamb mixture and press down. Cover with the mash, making sure all edges are covered. Top with an even coating of grated cheddar.
- Cook in the oven for 25-30 minutes until cheese is golden and the edges of the mash are brown and crispy. Optionally I also popped the grill on and moved the pie up to the top shelf for a further couple of minutes to maximise crispiness.
Notes
Want more? Check out my other recipes here
