Shepherd's Pie
with Cottage Pie variation
Ingredients (serves 6):
1 kg of minced (ground) mutton
1 onion, finely chopped
2 carrots, thinly sliced
1 stick celery, thinly sliced
150 grams of butter
2 tablespoons of cooking oil
100 ml of lamb stock (if not available, make up with beef stock)
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
1 teaspoon finely chopped parsley
500 grams of potatoes, boiled
Freshly ground sea or rock salt
Freshly ground black pepper
100 ml of whole milk
Method:- Preheat the oven to 220 C.
- Pour one tablespoon of the oil into a frying pan over a medium heat and fry the onions until soft and golden-brown. Remove them from the pan and set aside.
- Add the carrots and celery and fry until soft and golden-brown. Remove and set aside with the onions.
- Heat the remaining tablespoon of oil and 50 grams of butter. Add the minced (ground) mutton, stirring it until it browns. If too much liquid collects at the bottom of the pan, simmer until most of it has evaporated. The mutton should be moist, but not wet or sitting in a large quantity of its own juices.
- Add the carrots, celery, lamb stock, thyme and parsley, mixing it well.
- Mash the potatoes with the remaining butter and whole milk.
- Season with sea or rock salt and freshly ground black pepper and add the fried onions.
- Transfer the meat into an ovenproof dish, spreading it out to make an even layer.
- Spoon over the mashed potato and tease the surface with a fork to create some peaks.
- Place the dish into the oven and bake for 30 minutes or until the mash potato topping is golden-brown and crisp.
- Serve at the table in the dish.
Variations:- If you are concerned about weight, replace the whole milk with skimmed milk, leave out the butter, instead adding another 100 ml milk to the potatoes for mashing and do not use any cooking oil when frying the mutton.
- Substituting the mutton with minced (ground) beef will give you a dish called 'Cottage Pie', another favourite, easy and cheap mid-week dish.
- The original recipe dating to 1791 used twice or even thrice the amount of mash potato and would see the pie dish first lined with a layer of mash, then meat (any leftover cooked meat, finely chopped, would be used for this) and then mash again.
- The possible variations are endless.
Side dish recommendations:- Although this was traditionally served on its own, try serving with any salad you like.
- Traditionally served with an English Real Ale. If you can find it, I would recommend a glass of Adnam’s Broadside or if only more commercial English Ales are to be had, try John Smith’s Bitter. If still all is to no avail, try anything Bitter, Ale or even and IPA.
Storing and reheating:- Once cooked this will keep a couple of days in the fridge.
- To reheat, place a slice of the pie into an ovenproof dish and heat in the oven. Do NOT reheat all of it multiple times. Minced (ground) meat is susceptible to bacteria due to its large surface area.
- Suitable for home freezing, preferably in meal sized portions.
Download:
PDF file attached, see below.