Classic Shepherd's Pie

I thought i would try and cook something a little different last week, so we cooked up a shepherd's pie which turned out to be absolutly delicious so thought i would share this recipe with all of you so you can have a go to and see just how easy it is.

I found the recipe on exclusively Foods so you can check it out and take a look at many other great recipes too

This was our beautiful shepherds pie below

We substituted the tomato paste for gravox, i think this adds a little more flavor, we also took out the parsley, instead we added corn into the meat micture with the peas.

Enjoy

Meat Layer
20ml (1 tablespoon) oil
1 large (200g) onion, peeled and diced
1 large (200g) carrot, peeled and diced
1 large garlic clove, peeled and crushed
1kg raw minced lamb or beef (or 800g chopped cooked meat)
60ml (3 tablespoons) tomato paste
12g (1 tablespoon) plain flour
250ml (1 cup) chicken stock
40ml (2 tablespoons) Worcestershire sauce
400g canned crushed tomatoes
Salt and pepper
128g (1 cup) fresh or frozen peas
2 tablespoons chopped parsley

•  Heat oil in a large heavy-based pan or saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, carrot and garlic to pan. Cook, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes, or until vegetables have softened. 
  
  

•  If you are using raw meat, increase heat to high and add mince to the vegetables. Cook, stirring and mashing mince, until the mince has changed colour and most of the liquid has evaporated. If you are using meat that is already cooked, add the chopped meat to the vegetables and continue to the next step.

• 
  Over medium heat, add tomato paste and flour to meat mixture and cook, stirring constantly, for one minute.

• Add stock, Worcestershire sauce, crushed tomatoes, salt and pepper.

• Reduce heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until liquid has reduced (about 15 to 20 minutes).

• Cook potatoes (see directions below) while the meat mixture is cooking.
  
  Preheat oven to 210 degrees Celsius (190 degrees Celsius fan-forced).
  
  Stir peas and parsley into meat mixture and pour into a 2.5 litre capacity ovenproof dish.
  
  Top filling with mashed potato. Use a fork to create peaks in potato; sprinkle potato with cheese.
• If the dish you are using is quite full, sit it on a baking tray in case any of the sauce overflows during baking. Bake pie for about 20 minutes, or until sauce is bubbling and cheese is golden brown.

Mashed Potato Topping
1kg potatoes, peeled and chopped
50g (2 1/2 tablespoons) butter
Salt, to taste
About 125ml (1/2 cup) milk (the amount needed will vary, depending on the type of potatoes used)
100g (1 cup, firmly packed) grated cheese (we used a combination of mozzarella, cheddar and parmesan)
    tep.©