Shepherd’s Pie
Serves 4
Preparation: 15 mins Cooking: 1hr 20 mins
Ingredients
* 900g (2 lbs) beef [ground] mince, not too fatty
* vegetable oil for frying
* 2 onions, peeled and finely chopped
* 2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
* 2.5ml (½ tsp) dried thyme
* 30g (1oz) flour
* 30ml (2 tbsp) tomato purée
* 150ml (5fl oz) red wine
* 50ml (1½fl oz) Worcestershire sauce
* 1 litre (1¾ pints) beef or lamb stock
* 4 servings mashed potato, see recipe here
* salt and freshly ground pepper
Method
1. Season the minced meat. Heat some vegetable oil in a frying pan until it is very hot and cook the meat in small quantities for a few minutes, then drain it in a colander to remove all the fat. In a thick-bottomed pan, heat some more vegetable oil and gently fry the onion, garlic and thyme until they are very soft. Add the meat, dust it with flour and add the tomato purée, Cook for a few minutes, stirring constantly.
2. Preheat the oven to 200°C/fan 180°C/gas 6. Slowly add the red wine, Worcestershire sauce and stock, bring it to the boil and simmer for 30-40 minutes. Strain off about 200ml (7fl oz) of the sauce to serve with the pie. Continue to simmer until the liquid has almost evaporated. Take it off the heat, check the seasoning and allow to cool. To make the pie, put the meat into a large serving dish or individual dishes and top with potato. Bake for 35-40 minutes. Serve immediately. Don’t forget about the gravy you put to one side to drizzle over the pie!
Serving Suggestion
* Serve with buttered green beans and sweet carrots.
Credit due to Michelle Minnaar of the Greedy Gourmet Website (www.greedygourmet.com)
Contributed by Gerald sabai