Nowadays we use mince in our shepherds pies, however back in Victorian times they would always use up their leftover roast meat as a frugal way of living. It must have been some treat back then as it still has a certain endurance about it every time I eat it. The same with a cottage pie also, which if some of you aren’t aware, that is used with beef mince or in this case would have been leftover from your roast the previous day.
I love doing this and creating different recipes with the leftover meat than just putting it cold into a sandwich for lunch the next day.
This way definitely gives more flavour I feel to the dish, a deeper earthier taste. Plus it brings a coarse texture that can be more appealing to others also. Plus it’s less fatty.
This meat was taken from just a fore leg of Lamb, a bit like a large shank that I managed to buy and I got two huge parts of the leg for only £8! Down from £21! What a bargain!
So you see my readers, not always is a roast an expensive dinner, it’s looking for that bargain first and it’s also what you manage to get out of it.
Shepherds pie
(Using leftover Roast Lamb)
Ingredients: (Serves 4 approximately )
Mash:
- Roughly 6 floury potatoes such as Maris piper, wilma or marfona peeled and cut into even size chunks.
- 100 ml double cream
- a good size knob of unsalted butter
- Salt and pepper to season
Meat mixture:
- 1 tbsp rapeseed oil
- approximately 400g leftover Roast Lamb meat coarsely chopped
- 1 large onion diced
- 1/2 leek sliced thinly
- 1 carrot finely diced
- 1/2 celery stick finely chopped
- 1 clove of garlic finely chopped
- a small sprig of thyme
- Any gravy/juices/stock saved from the joint, use for a sauce
- 1 tbsp tomato puree
- a good splash of red wine such as a cabernet sauvignon/merlot or Cotes du Rhone
- a few splashes of Worcester sauce
- a few grinds of cracked black pepper
- Salt if needed or if too strong tasting, use a pinch of caster sugar to even out.
Method:
* Boil potatoes in a pan of boiling water until tender. Drain and mash the potatoes adding the ingredients to it. Set aside.
- preheat oven to 190c
- In a hot frying pan pop in your rapeseed oil and fry off your onion for about 2-3 minutes. Then add your celery and carrot and fry off for another minute.
- Add in your leeks to the mixture, fry of for a further minute and then add in your garlic and thyme.
- Add your chopped meat, gravy/juices,tomato puree, Worcester sauce, wine, pepper stir and leave to simmer for 20 minutes.
- Taste as you go along and you can add more wine or water as you wish if it becomes dry.
- When the mixture is reduced down to a gravy like sauce and the meat is tender again pop into a pie dish, top with your mash and roughen the mash with a fork.
- Then place into the oven for another 20 minutes or when the topping is golden brown and bubbling at the edges.
* Serve on its own or with some green vegetables and a glass of red.
ChezJ9 