Cottage Pie / Shepherd's Pie

Cottage Pie / Shepherd's Pie


• 1kg lamb mince / mixture of beef and pork mince

• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

• 2 tablespoons of olive oil

• 1 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 potatoes

• 200ml milk

• 2 knobs of butter


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


1. Heat a large pan and, when it’s nice and hot, add the olive oil and 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.

2. Peel the potatoes, 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.

3. 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.

4. Take the mince 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.