SHEPHERDS PIE

Homely, warming, and cheap as chips. Shepherds pie can be prepared way ahead of time and popped in the oven to finish when you need it.

Ingredients:

1 kg best minced lamb
2 large onions - peeled and sliced
2 sticks of celery - peeled and diced
2 carrots - peeled and diced
1 tblspn tomato puree
1½ pint of lamb stock
¼ pint of red wine
a dash of worcester sauce
1 bayleaf
a large sprig of thyme, leaves only
a large sprig of rosemary, leaves only
2 tblspns vegetable oil
salt and black pepper

For topping:

1. 400g of peeled Maris Piper potatoes - cubed, cooked in boiling salted water until tender, drained and mashed. Season with salt and pepper then wrap and keep warm.
2. 150g of mild cheddar - grated.

Method:

1. Heat half of the oil in a saucepan, add the minced lamb and cook until browned. Tip into a bowl and set aside. Place the pan back on the heat, add the remaining oil and onions and cook until caramelized. Add the red wine, scrape up any crusty bits and cook until it's completely evaporated.

2. Add the tomato puree and cook for 1 minute. Return the lamb to the pan along with the chopped tomatoes, celery, carrots, worcesterhire sauce, bay, thyme, rosemary and stock. Bring to the boil and simmer for an hour or so until you have a lovely thick stew.

3. Pour into an ovenproof dish, top with mash and grated cheese and bake at 200°c for 30 minutes. The trick here is to use a dish which is big enough to contain the pie and still have a bit of room to spare -- an over-filled dish will make a hell of a mess in your oven!

I know a shepherd and during lambing season he just can't bear to look at a sheep never mind eat one. But he loves the beef-based alternative - Cottage pie, which is the same concept but uses cow instead of sheep.