spring lamb shepherd’s pie

servings
4-6

method

Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F/gas 5.

Trim any large bits of fat off the lamb, then cut the meat into chunks and put small batches into the food processor until minced roughly. Place the mince in a bowl, then add the flour and seasoning and toss until evenly coated.

Heat a large pan and, when it’s nice and hot, add the olive oil and lamb mince and fry until browned all over. Add the onion, celery, carrot, pancetta and garlic to the pan, and throw in a large pinch of rosemary leaves and the tomatoes. Pour in the stock and stir well so the mixture doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan. Leave in the same pan or transfer to an ovenproof dish, cover and bake in the oven for an hour.

Meanwhile, peel the spuds, boil them in salted water until cooked through, then drain well. Heat the milk gently then pour over the potatoes. Add a knob of butter and mash well until smooth and creamy.

Melt the remaining butter in a frying pan. When it starts to bubble, throw in the rosemary and fry until crisp. Drain, and add the rosemary to the mashed potatoes with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Take the lamb out of the oven, spoon over the mash, then turn up the temperature to 200°C/400°F/gas 6 and bake for about 20 minutes or until bubbling and crispy and brown on top.

ingredients

• 1kg boneless shoulder of lamb
• 2 tablespoons flour
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 lugs of olive oil
• 1 red onion, peeled and roughly chopped
• 2 sticks of celery, trimmed and roughly chopped
• 1 carrot, peeled and roughly chopped
• 50g pancetta, roughly chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• a small bunch of fresh rosemary, leaves picked
• 1 x 400g can of plum tomatoes, chopped
• 250ml lamb or vegetable stock
• 1kg Desirée potatoes
• 200ml milk
• 2 knobs of butter

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1. by Dick on Wed 09 Nov 2011 @ 13:49

My Fanny loves this

2. by tash82 on Wed 15 Dec 2010 @ 00:10

Just cooked this and it was very easy to make and tasted absolutely gorgeous! I added some garden peas on the side. Perfect for a winters night!

3. by julz on Tue 08 Dec 2009 @ 17:47

Last week me & my boyfriens scott miller who lives in the u.s cooked the meatballs last week...great fun & soooo delicious....this week tonight were doing shepherds pie....on skype...London & Nebraska ...Having lots of fun...x

4. by tomo on Sat 05 Dec 2009 @ 14:55

just cooked it looks, smells and tastes great !! very easy to follow recipe, my other half was most impressed.

5. by morgan on Fri 09 Oct 2009 @ 19:10

gonna give it a go :)

6. by Serge on Tue 19 May 2009 @ 02:10

In Quebec, we add a good cup (or more) of corn kennels on top of the meat, before adding the potatoes. Try it.

7. by Shirley on Mon 27 Apr 2009 @ 12:20

I used good quality beef mince instead of lamb, its an easy recipe to follow but allow 1.5hr to prepare and cook, certainly worth every mintue!...

8. by Jonathan on Sat 14 Feb 2009 @ 18:12

Making it for my man tonight! I hope its as easy as you're all saying!!!!

9. by Lucy on Tue 03 Feb 2009 @ 13:45

Brilliant recipe. I'm in the states, where ground lamb can be harder to come by, so I've made a cottage pie (with ground beef) instead. In order to keep the flavors round and warm, I mixed in a dash or two of Worcestershire sauce when browning the meat, and then added half a cup of broth and half a cup of red wine (rather than a full cup of stock). Finally, in a decidedly unhealthy but delicious move, I took the butter that the rosemary had been fried in and spread a thin layer over the potatoes; I then put it under the broiler for four or five minutes, which made it even more crispy--plus, browned rosemary butter tastes like heaven.

One of the things that's so brilliant about these recipes, of course, is that they're flexible enough to be useful to everyday people who can't always find the exact ingredients on the list. Treating food as a practical art rather than as a fussy science means that everyone can have a go at making a good dinner.

10. by jonnyroastbeef on Mon 19 Jan 2009 @ 21:53

Yum yum - that was one tasty meal! I love all these recipes, they're just so easy to prepare and cook and taste so, so nice. My W2B thinks I'm the nuts!

11. by Matt on Sun 11 Jan 2009 @ 14:41

Cooking it now. Cooked his sticky lamb stew last week . Hope this is as nice as that was!

12. by Matt on Sun 11 Jan 2009 @ 13:50

Cooking it now. Cooked his sticky lamb stew last week . Hope this is as nice as that was!

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