← Nouns Cooking · British & Irish

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp Vegetable oil
• 500 g Minced lamb
• 1 Onion, finely chopped
• 2 Carrot, finely diced
• 1 stick Celery, finely diced (optional)
• 2 cloves Garlic, crushed
• 1 tbsp Plain (all-purpose) flour
• 2 tbsp Tomato purée (paste)
• 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 450 ml beef or lamb stock
• 1 tsp dried thyme (or a few fresh sprigs)
• 1 bay leaf
• 100 g frozen peas (optional)
• 900 g floury potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
• 60 g Butter
• 80 ml Milk
• 40 g Cheddar, grated (optional)
• Salt
• Black pepper

Method

1. Heat the oil in a large pan over high heat and fry the mince for 8 min, breaking it up, until well browned. Spoon it into a bowl and pour off all but 1 tbsp of the fat.
2. Turn the heat to medium, add the onion, carrot and celery and cook for 8–10 min until soft. Stir in the garlic, flour and tomato paste and cook for 1 minute.
3. Return the lamb, then add the Worcestershire sauce, stock, thyme and bay leaf. Simmer gently, uncovered, for 30–40 min until the gravy is thick and glossy. Season, discard the bay and stir in the peas.
4. Meanwhile, boil the potatoes in salted water for 15–20 min until completely tender. Drain, let them steam dry in the pan for 2 min, then mash with the butter and milk until smooth. Season well.
5. Heat the oven to 200°C (180°C fan, 400°F). Spoon the filling into a baking dish, top with the mash and rough it up with a fork so you get crunchy ridges. Scatter over the cheese.
6. Bake for 25–30 min until the top is golden and the filling bubbles up at the edges. Rest for 5 min before serving with greens.

Tips

• Made with beef mince instead of lamb, it's a cottage pie.
• Worcestershire sauce contains anchovies, so this is not pescatarian-safe.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

BBC Good Food RecipeTin Eats