I call it my Shepherdess pie because I find that my way (as usual) varies from your traditional shepherd’s pie recipe. Traditionally, the British use tomatoes and stock with the meat and top it off with creamy mashed potatoes, but do not add cheese, they complain that this is the American influence that these days shepherd’s pie is topped off with cheese. I love cheese in my shepherd’s pie and these days you see that even the British celebrity chefs such as Gordon Ramsay and Jamie Oliver also use cheese in their pie. I like adding many layers of flavor to my one, so I add mushrooms, zucchini  and  chili flakes along with a couple of different kind of cheese.This is one of the dishes that tastes better the next day, as all the flavor amalgamates making it hard to stop eating this pie, making it an all time comfort food at my house! Hope you enjoy it!

Ingredients 

1 kg lamb mince

2 Ribs Celery along with leaves

2 Zucchini, shredded

1 ½  Cup Mushrooms

1 Tsp Chili Flakes

1 Large Onion, chopped

5 cloves Garlic, minced

¾  Cup Red Wine

2 Large Tomatoes, chopped

2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

5 Large Potatoes

2 tablespoons flour

1 small bunch fresh Rosemary

1 ½ Cup Shredded Cheese (mixture of Gruyere and Cheddar)

Sea Salt & Freshly Ground Black Pepper to taste

Method

In a Dutch oven, heat some olive oil. Add in the chopped onions and sauté till translucent.

Then add the garlic & celery along with its leaves. I know most people throw out the leaves but I believe it adds another depth of flavor to my dish.

Then add  the mince, season with pepper and fry until well browned.

Now stir in the Rosemary leaves with the chili flakes and mix well.

The zucchini and the mushrooms need to be mixed in this stage.

In the meat mixture now add the tomatoes, then mix in the flour. Cook stirring constantly for a couple of minutes to cook the flour.

Add the red wine and Worcestershire sauce and cook until the liquid has reduced to half the original volume.  Bring back to the boil, then simmer for 45 minutes.

In the mean time, boil the potatoes. Mash them with a potato masher. In a small pot heat up some butter and add the potato mash and cream with butter until smooth. Now stir in the cheese and mix well.

Do a taste test of the meat mixture and season accordingly. The mixture should be of thick consistency.

Put the meat  into a baking dish, then top with the mashed potato and level it out.

Pre- heat oven to 400°F.

Cook for 30 minutes. Then for a brown top set the oven to high and broil for 5-10 minutes, until crust is golden brown.

 

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