SLOW-COOKED WESTCOUNTRY SHEPHERD’S PIE

I like to follow the example Hugh FearnleyWhittingstall sets in his new book, River Cottage – Good Comfort, in which lots of veg are added to traditional meat based recipes. This will add to a dish’s overall rating on the sustainability front, and also to the way in which it sustains those who’ll be eating it.

Everyone reading these pages will have their own way of making a shepherd’s pie – which must be one of the most traditional countryside dishes in these sheep-grazed islands. However, I begin by employing a tradition from another country – the classic Italian ‘soffritto’, that aromatic mix of diced onions, carrots, and celery gently cooked in olive oil or butter.

To this I add Puy lentils, which have been semi-cooked in a pressure cooker for a few minutes. Next I add the fried lamb mince which I’ve seasoned and strained to get rid of some of the fat. Adding stock, and a mix of half wine, half cider, as well as English mustard provides moisture to the base which, in a traditional shepherd’s pie, is then crowned with a blanket of mashed potato. However, I only had waxy potatoes in the cupboard, and they’re no good for mashing – so I sliced them on a mandolin. My thinking was that, partly thanks to the texture of the lentils, I’d still get the required result after it had been cooked long and slow in the wood-burner oven.

I was right. The discs of potato were crispy on the top, as well as soft and waxy below, creating an ideal topping for the chewy meat, lentils and veg all bathed in the sauce within. Good dishes are all about balance as well as flavour, and this ultra-local shepherd’s pie certainly ticked all the boxes.