Shepherd’s Pie

Name: Shepherd’s Pie
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 1 h
Total time: 1 h 25 min
Yield: Serves 4–6
Cuisine: British
Ingredients: 700g minced lamb; 2 onions, finely chopped; 2 carrots, diced; 2 tbsp tomato purée; 1 tbsp flour; 400ml lamb stock; 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce; Sprig of rosemary and thyme; 100g frozen peas; Topping: 1kg floury potatoes, 60g butter, 4 tbsp warm milk, 2 egg yolks

Minced lamb simmered in rich gravy under a furrowed, golden mash — the correct shepherd’s pie is always lamb, and always better the day after.

Prep: 25 min
Cook: 60 min
Total: 85 min
Yield: Serves 4–6
Difficulty: Moderate
Era: Victorian

Ingredients

700g minced lamb
2 onions, finely chopped
2 carrots, diced
2 tbsp tomato purée; 1 tbsp flour
400ml lamb stock; 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
Sprig of rosemary and thyme
100g frozen peas
Topping: 1kg floury potatoes, 60g butter, 4 tbsp warm milk, 2 egg yolks

Method

Oven200°C400°FFan 180°CGas 6

Brown the lamb in batches in a hot pan; drain off most of the fat.
Soften the onions and carrots for 10 minutes. Stir in the tomato purée and flour, cook 2 minutes.
Return the lamb, add the stock, Worcestershire sauce and herbs; simmer 25 minutes until thick and glossy. Stir in the peas.
Boil the potatoes until tender, drain well, and mash with butter, warm milk and yolks until smooth.
Tip the lamb into a baking dish, top with mash and furrow with a fork.
Bake at 200°C / 400°F (fan 180°C, gas 6) for 25–30 minutes until the peaks are golden and the gravy bubbles at the edges.

Oven temperatures are given in Celsius, Fahrenheit, fan and gas mark throughout. Quantities are metric, as cooked and written in the UK.