Shepherd’s Pie is the ultimate British comfort food. In fact as far as recipes go, it’s about as British as it gets. It’s been a household staple for hundreds of years, and you would be hard pressed to find anyone who doesn’t have fond childhood memories of it.
There will always be some debate on the difference between Shepherd’s Pie and Cottage Pie. Purists will tell you Shepherds Pie is supposed to be made from minced lamb and Cottage Pie from minced beef. But in reality most people use ‘Shepherd’s Pie’ interchangeably, and my recipe always includes beef.
At the end of the day, a name is just a name. Use lamb if it bothers you, or call it Cottage Pie instead. But it doesn’t really matter.
Just be thankful that the name ‘minced meat with mashed potatoes’ didn’t catch on, as otherwise this wonderful comfort food might not have survived the test of time. Or that we didn’t adopt the French name Hachis Parmentier, which could have led to oh so many misunderstandings!
Shepherd’s Pie
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 800 grams minced beef
- 2 medium onions (finely chopped)
- 2 sticks celery (finely chopped)
- 2 medium carrots (finely chopped)
- 2 cloves garlic (finely chopped)
- 1 litre beef or chicken stock
- 200g tinned chopped tomatoes
- 3 bay leaves
- sea salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- 500 grams potatoes (peeled and cut into small pieces)
- 50 grams butter (cubed)
Instructions
Meat Sauce
- Preheat the oven to 180C.
- Heat the extra virgin olive oil in a heavy based pan.
- Fry the minced beef until it browns. If necessary, fry in batches. When done, strain and discard any juices or liquid and set the minced beef aside.
- Add the onions, celery and carrots to the same pan and sauté for 15 minutes or until soft. Add more extra virgin olive oil if needed.
- Add in the garlic and stir for one minute.
- Add tomatoes and cook for a minute, then return the beef to the pan and mix well.
- Add the bay leaves and just enough stock to cover the beef by 1 cm and cover the pan. Simmer the meat gently for 40 – 50 mins. Do not let the mixture boil.
- When done, strain the meat sauce and reserve the liquid.
Mashed Potato
- Boil the potatoes in salted water until soft.
- Mash the potatoes with the butter until well combined and there are no lumps. Feel free to use more butter and/ or milk to achieve a richer consistency.
Assembly
- Spoon the meat mixture into a baking tray, making sure it is as level as possible.
- Add a layer of mashed potato, making sure all the meat sauce is covered (especially in the corners).
- Use a fork to fluff up the surface of the mashed potato. This helps form a nice crust and looks nice too.
- Put the baking tray into the oven and bake for 45 minutes or until the mashed potato has turned golden brown.
- Meanwhile, reheat the reserved liquid from the meat sauce, and allow to thicken into a gravy.
- When ready, serve the Shepherd's Pie with the gravy.
