What's the difference between shepherds pie and cottage pie..? Shepherds pie is made from lamb mince and cottage pie from beef mince, if you asked me my favourite I think shepherds pie just squeezes in front, simply because of the extra flavour lamb carries from it being a bit more fatty.
In the recipe it calls for lamb stock, now if like me you would normally happily replace this with beef stock just because you have some in your cupboard then please do make a point of going and getting some lamb stock cubes, it just adds even more depth of flavour to this lovely recipe. Soften get asked why I cook the lamb mince first and then remove, this is for two reasons, firstly by cooking the lamb mince in the pan on its own first its gets a lovely colour on it and colour means flavour, secondly the fat that it leaves behind can be used to sauté the veggies in, again adding a real richness to the dish.
I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do. Even the thought of it cooking and the smell filling the house up is enough to make my mouth water.
Prep time 20 mins
Cooking time 2hrs 15mins
2tbsp olive oil
500g lamb mince, the more fat content the better the flavour
Salt
Pepper
1 large onion, finely diced
1 carrot, peeled and finely diced
2 sticks of celery, diced
2 sprigs of fresh rosemary, sprigs removed and finely chopped
200ml red wine (enjoy the rest with dinner, or leave out entirely if cooking for children)
500ml lamb stock
2tbsp chicken bisto (if you'd prefer not too use bisto see my tip at the bottom)
1tbsp mint sauce
100g frozen peas
800g Maris Piper potatoes, peeled and chopped into roughly 1inch cubes
2tbsp butter
50ml milk
In a deep pan, heat 1tbsp of olive oil, season the lamb mince with a few of grinds of salt and pepper, not to much because we are using some more later in the recipe, but this will really add flavour to the mince, brown the mince off on a medium to high heat, once browned remove and set aside.
Lamb mince can be quite fatty so there will be quite a bit left in the pan from the mince, to me this is flavour and I love to sauté the veggies in it so I leave pretty much all of it in the pan (normally there's about 4-5tbsp, anymore then that just discard) of course if you're being extra healthy you can just leave less in the pan. So with however much you feel comfortable with pour in the diced onion, carrot and celery and on a medium heat gently sauté until softened, normally around 10mins. If your pan gets too dry at any point you can add a splash of water to prevent the veg from sticking and burning.
Now add the chopped rosemary sprigs and a pinch more salt and pepper, a little less then 1/4tsp of each, cook for 2 mins.
Pop the mince back in the pan, and add the red wine, turn the heat up and allow some of the alcohol to cook out of the wine, it will take about 3-4mins.
Once the wine has reduced by half add the lamb stock, bring to the boil and then turn the heat to a simmer and cook uncovered for around 30 mins stirring every now and again to make sure its not sticking to the bottom of the pan. We want the stock to have reduced by about 2/3rds.
Once the liquid has reduced add the bisto and mint sauce, give it a stir, after a couple of minutes the sauce should be lovely and thick. If the bits has thickened it too much stir in a dash more boiling water to loosen it but... the key to a good shepherds pie is not to have the meat and gravy too liquidy or the mash will just sink into it, so make sure the mince mixture is nice and thick, just keep it on the heat until its just right.
Now that you have a really thick delicious mince mixture have a taste and adjust the seasoning if need be. Then add the frozen peas and stir in. Pour the mixture into your oven proof dish and leave to cool, this is another tip for making sure your mash doesn't sink in.
While the sauce is cooling, turn your oven on to 190ºc and in a saucepan add the potatoes, cover by an inch with cold water add a large pinch of salt, heat until the water is boiling and then turn to a simmer until the potatoes are very tender and slip off of a knife.
Once your potatoes are cooked, drain them and let them steam for a couple of minutes, add them back to the saucepan, off the heat and add the butter and milk and mash them until they are perfectly smooth. I recommend buying a potato ricer, my one changed my life, and don't make your mash as wet as you normally would, again this is another tip so that it doesn't sink into the gravy.
Once your mash is finished and your filling is cool dollop the mash on top in big spoon full and spread around with a fork making sure you have lots of rough bits to crisp up, leave a 1cm edge of mince exposed, this will allow the gravy to bubble up go all crisp and delicious. 🤤
Pop in the oven for around 30 mins until all the mash has gone deliciously crisp!!
Enjoy with some lovely steamed green beans.
You can brush the top of the mash with melted butter before it goes in the oven for an extra savoury and crisp top.
If you prefer not to use bits granules the before you add the cooked mince back in the pan with the veggies add 2tbsp of butter to the veggies and melt then add 2tbsp of plain flour to the pan and 'cook out' then add your mince back in and add the red wine and stock together, stirring well this will make nice thick gravy but leave a bit more of a wine taste in the gravy.
