Shepherd’s pie with gnocchi

Serves 6

Preparation time 20 minutes Cooking time 50 minutes

You need

• 1 tablespoon olive oil

• 8 strips of bacon, chopped

• 500 g lean mince

• 250 g mushrooms, chopped

• 1 onion, chopped

• 1 carrot, grated

• 1 clove of garlic, finely chopped • 1 tablespoon flour

• 1 cup stock

• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

• 1 tablespoon tomato paste

• salt and pepper, to taste

• 500 g gnocchi

• big pat of butter

• ¼ cup parmesan, grated

Here’s how

1 Heat the olive oil and fry the bacon and mince until flavoursome and brown. Use a wooden spoon to break up any clumps of mince. Add the mushrooms and fry for another minute or two. Remove the mixture from the pan and fry the onion, carrot and garlic in the same pan until soft. Add more oil if necessary.

2 Stir the mince mixture through the vegetables, followed by the flour. Add the stock, Worcestershire sauce and tomato paste to the filling and stir briskly. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Simmer for 30 minutes.

3 In the meantime, preheat the oven to 200° C. Transfer the pie filling to an ovenproof dish. Boil the gnocchi in salted water until they float to the top. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the gnocchi to the pan you used to fry the meat. Add the butter and half of the cheese.

4 Spoon the buttery gnocchi on top of the meat in a single layer. Add the rest of the cheese and bake for 20 minutes or until the cheese starts to bubble. You can also use the grill to speed up the process…