When we started this blog the idea was that we would each talk about the food in our different countries. We forgot that actually we both like food from other places quite a lot which is why we’ve brought you recipes for fajitas, chilli and curry amonst other things. But now I’m sticking to my side of the bargain and making Shepherd’s Pie. Very British indeed. Meat, veg and mashed potatoes. It’s filling, freezes well and can be served plain to your grandmother or fancied up to your foodie friends. It’s also known as Cottage Pie but I’ve always had it in my head that making it with lamb made it Shepherd’s Pie while making it with beef made it Cottage Pie. Wikipedia tells me this might be “folk eytomolgy” but as it’s on Wikipedia it’s probably rubbish making my theory correct by default.

I’ve been tweaking the basic shepherd’s pie recipe for a while. Just playing with the amounts of veg that I wanted in there. Adding cheese. Then more cheese. That kind of thing. Last time I made it I reached for the seasoning and found a little tub filled with a spice mix leftover from a not entirely successful soup recipe. I asked Doug if he thought it would be a good idea to chuck some of it in. Why not, he said, and it turned out pretty damn tasty.

Ingredients

• 1 tsp chilli flakes
• 1.2 tbsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 2 tbsps oil (olive, vegetable, whatever you fancy)
• 2 onions
• 3 carrots
• 3 sticks of celery
• Roughly a handful of peas (I tend to use frozen)
• 1kg minced/about 2.2lbs ground lamb
• 3 tbsp worcestershire sauce
• 2 tsp tomato puree
• 300ml hot lamb stock
• 1.24kg floury potatoes
• milk, butter, salt and pepper to taste
• Optional: a handful of grated cheese (cheddar and edam both work really well)

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees centigrade, 400 degrees fahrenheit or Gas Mark 6.

Toast the chilli flakes, cumin and coriander together in a dry pan for a few minutes and then remove fom the heat. This will make more of the mix than you really need so I keep the extra in a container for next time or for seasoning anything else. This is a good recipe without the spices added but I think it’s better with them in, it just gives it a bit of a kick, which I loved.

Dice the onions, carrot and celery into small pieces. This is called soffrito. I had to google that which should reinforce for you that we’re really not trained cooks! If I have time I’ll do this the night before so there’s less prep work on the day and keep it covered in the fridge overnight. Then saute the soffrito in the oil over a medium heat for about 5 minutes.

Then turn up the heat and add the minced lamb which you should cook for 3-4 minutes while breaking up the meat as it browns.

Add the worcestershire (pronounced woo-ster, as in Jeeves and..) sauce, tomato puree, peas, spices and hot stock to the pan and bring to the boil before simmering for 20 minutes. The liquid will reduce and thicken up and your kitchen will smell of Lea and Perrins.

While the simmering is ongoing chop your potatoes into large chunks and put them into a pan of cold water. I like to leave the skins on. Mostly because I’m lazy but also because I think it makes the mash taste better. Bring this to the boil and also simmer for 20 minutes until they are tender and ready for mashing. Drain the pan and mash up with as much milk and butter as you like in your mashed potatoes.

Season the filling and then move into an ovenproof dish.

The mash then gets transferred on top of the filling. It will be quite full, there’s a lot of food in this dish! Use a fork to even out the top of the mash.

Bake for 35-40 minutes until it is golden and bubbling. Some of the liquid may spill out during cooking so I prefer to put something underneath to catch the overspill. 20 minutes before the pie is finished take it out and sprinkle your grated cheese on the top.

It’ll come out looking a little something like this. Mmmmm, that’s Edam cheese on there and it tasted great mixed with the potatoes and all the lamb and veg. Lovely with gravy and some fresh veggies or on it’s own.