Old School Shepherd's Pie

I just made a very yummy Shepherd's Pie for Sunday night dinner. I am a firm believer in comfort food and good old country cooking, and it doesn't get any closer to it than this delicious classic.

Add some cold weather, warm crusty bread and sweet corn on a cob, and you'll be in tasty heaven.

What you'll need:

• Oven (although, this is not a requirement - it just serves to make mashed potatoes golden at the end)
• Cooktop (gas or electric)
• One large saucepan
• One medium saucepan
• One 2 l serving dish (square or oval, it really doesn't matter, dimensions would be approx. 25cm x 25cm x 5cm - if you're going to put it in the oven at the end, make sure it's ovenproof)

Ingredients:

• 2 tbs oil (olive or vegetable - whatever you prefer)
• 1 kg minced lamb (if you prefer beef, no worries - it'll just be called Cottage Pie then)
• 1 brown onion, chopped finely
• 2 carrots, chopped finely
• 2 celery sticks (this is optional), chopped finely
• 500 ml beef stock
• 3 tbs tomato sauce or ketchup
• 3 tbs Worcestershire sauce (if you don't have it, replace it with 3 tbs BBQ sauce)
• 3 tbs plain flour (this will thicken the sauce)

For Mashed Potatoes:

• 1 kg potatoes, pealed and cut into quarters
• 1 tbs butter
• 20 ml milk (you may need more or less depending on how naturally mashy your potatoes are - better to start with less and then add more if needed)
• pinch of salt
• 1 tbs melted butter or oil spray

Place the potatoes into medium size saucepan and cover with water. Cook on medium-high for 40 min or until potatoes are tender (use the fork to check).

Preheat oven to 220 C.

In the meantime, heat the oil in the large saucepan and when hot, add chopped onion, carrots and celery. Cook until onion changes colour and becomes softer (about 3-5 minutes). Make sure you stir frequently as onion burns very easily, and there is nothing worse than burnt onion! Add mince lamb (or beef) and cook until it gets brown, breaking up all the lumps as it's cooking. Add beef stock, tomato sauce and Worcestershire sauce, stir well and cook for 25-30 minutes. Lastly, add the flour and stir well. You'll notice that the sauce will thicken almost instantly. Remove from heat and transfer to an ovenproof dish. Set aside.

Potatoes should be tender by now. Remove from heat, drain from all the water, mash them well and then add milk, butter and salt. Stir everything together and once the fluffiness is to your desired consistency, cover the meat mixture with mash potatoes. Brush the surface with some melted butter or oil spray.

Bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes, or until mash surface changes colour to gold (and again, this step is optional).

Serves: 4-6