I love a good Shepherd’s Pie – and this one is my take on the classic. Enjoy x
What you will need:
For the filling…
• 500ish grams of beef mince
• 1 red onion, diced
• 2 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 4 or so mushrooms, chopped
• About ½ cup frozen peas
• 1 tin of crushed tomatoes
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 1/3 cup red lentils (uncooked)
• 1 carrot, grated
• About 3/4 cup of beef stock (this is just to give the lentils some water to cook in, and to make sure the mixture doesn’t dry out, so play around with this amount)
• A decent splash of Worcestershire sauce
• Another decent splash of either red wine OR (my secret ingredient…) scotch/whiskey
• Seasonings – fresh parsley, chopped; nutritional yeast; smoked paprika; turmeric; salt; pepper; 2 threads of saffron; 4 bay leaves (remove after cooking)
For the topping…
• Roughly 6-7 potatoes (depending on their size) OR you could use sweet potatoes, or a combination of the two
• Butter, salt and pepper
• Grated cheese
What to do:
• Chop the potatoes into chunks and boil in salted water until tender
Meanwhile…
• Fry the onion and garlic until cooked.
• I like to season my dishes at every stage, so I would add some salt, pepper and spices here.
• Add the beef and cook through.
• Add the carrot, mushrooms and peas and give them a light fry.
• Now add the stock, wine/scotch, tinned tomatoes and tomato paste.
• Give it all a good stir and then add in the lentils.
• Stir the lentils through and then add the Worcestershire sauce.
• Season with all of your seasonings, and bring the heat down to a low simmer. Pop a lid on the pan and let it cook away until the lentils are tender (this doesn’t take very long).
• Once everything is cooked through, turn off the heat and let the mixture cool a little.
• The potatoes should be cooked by now, so drain them off.
• Mash the potatoes and add in enough butter to create a nice, smooth mashed potato mixture. You can also add milk if it seems too dry.
• Now construct the pie by putting the beef mixture into a pie dish. Pat it flat. Spoon the mashed potato mixture on top of the beef mix and smooth this out with the spoon.
• Sprinkle some grated cheese on top (whichever cheese you prefer).
• Sprinkle some smoked paprika over the cheese.
• Bake in the oven (just to brown the cheese) at 180 degrees for about 15 minutes, or until golden brown.
• Let cool slightly, cut, serve and ENJOY