The new shepherd’s pie
To this day, my mom makes the best shepherd’s pie there is. Her secret ingredient in the filling is peas –because I never wanted to eat my vegetables! I decided to update the recipe somewhat by using leg of lamb that has been slow-cooked overnight.
Serves 6 - 8
Click here for the downloadable recipe.
INGREDIENTS
45 ml olive oil
2 kg leg of lamb
2 onions, coarsely chopped
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
4 stalks celery, chopped
30 ml ground coriander
30 ml fennel seeds
200 g tomato paste
2 x 400 g tins cherry tomatoes
500 ml red wine
500 ml beef stock
salt and freshly ground black pepper
5 large potatoes, peeled
250 ml lukewarm milk
1 x 400 g roll shortcrust pastry
cake flour for rolling out
100 g frozen peas
METHOD
Overnight leg of lamb:
Preheat the oven to 100 °C. Heat the olive oil in a medium-sized stovetop-to-oven casserole and brown the leg of lamb for about 5 minutes per side. Remove the leg and add the onions, garlic, celery, coriander and fennel to the casserole. Stir-fry for 5–8 minutes or until the onions start to brown.
Add the tomato paste and fry for another 2 minutes.
Mix in the cherry tomatoes, wine and stock and bring to the boil. Place the leg of lamb in the sauce, season well with salt and pepper, cover with the lid and place in the oven for 8 hours.
Pie:
Preheat the oven to 200 °C.
Boil the potatoes until soft and cooked. Drain and mash with a potato masher.
Mix in just enough milk to form a smooth, creamy mousse.
Season well and spoon into a piping bag with a 1 cm star nozzle.
Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface until about 4 mm thick. Line a 25 x 15 cm pan with baking paper and grease well with nonstick food spray (the paper should stick out above the sides so that you can use it to lift out the pie).
Line the pan with the pastry. Remove the lamb from the bone, cut it into small pieces and mix with some of the pan juices until the filling is lovely and moist. Stir in the peas and spoon the filling into the pastry-lined pan.
Pipe rosettes of mashed potatoes on top until the meat filling is completely covered.
Place the pie in the hot oven and bake for 30–35 minutes or until the potatoes are golden brown and the pastry is cooked. Cool slightly and then lift the pie out of the pan. Serve hot.
