Shepherd’s pie topped with watercress and cheddar mash

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 1 hour

Ingredients:

For the pie:

• 40g of watercress, chopped
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 celery stick, finely chopped
• 1 carrot, peeled and finely chopped
• 25g butter
• 500g minced lamb
• 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 400g can chopped tomatoes
• 1 tbsp tomato ketchup
• 1 tsp fresh thyme leaves, roughly chopped

For the mash:

• Half x 85g bag watercress, chopped
• 1kg Desirée potatoes, peeled
• 25g butter
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 50g Cheddar, finely grated

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C, 400°F, gas mark 6.  For the pie, finely chop the onion, celery and carrot.  Melt butter in a frying pan and gently fry the vegetable mixture for 8-10 minutes until tender.  Remove from the pan and set aside.
2. Add the lamb to the pan, turn up the heat and brown for about 8-10 minutes.  Drain off any excess fat, then add the vegetable mixture, the Worcestershire sauce, tomatoes, ketchup and thyme.  Stir and simmer for 20 minutes until reduced then stir in half the watercress.
3. Meanwhile, for the mash, cut the potatoes into even-sized chunks and cook in boiling, salted water for 20 minutes.  Drain and mash with butter and seasoning.  Stir in half the Cheddar and the remaining watercress.
4. Season the meat mixture and spoon into a shallow ovenproof dish.  Top with the Cheddar mash.  Sprinkle over the remaining cheese and cook for 30 minutes until golden brown and hot.

Written by Editor at Large• September 18, 2015• 1:25 pm• Recipes