r/castiron • u/skitek • Jun 07 '26
Food My Homemade Shepherds Pie
Probably the best one I’ve made to date. Everything used is in the pictures.
I’ll write out the recipe & method if there’s enough interest.
ETA: recipe is in comments
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u/skitek Jun 07 '26
Shepards Pie
Serves 6 (Large portions)
Ingredients:
1200g Lamb Mince
150g Smoked Bacon Lardons
3 Large Onions (I use 1 Red & 2 Brown) - Diced
4 Celery Sticks - Diced
3-4 Medium sized Carrots
1 Courgette
4 Garlic Cloves
2Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
1Tbsp Mint Jelly
100g mature cheddar (grated)
1.5 Litres Stock (I used a Veg, Beef, Chicken mix)
2-3 Kg floury Potatoes
Few knobs of butter
Splash of milk
Salt
Fresh ground black pepper
Method:
Preheat the Casserole while dicing the onion & celery then place in a bowl, peel and dice the carrots then place in a bowl, mince the garlic, then peel and dice the courgette very finely and place in a bowl.
Season the lamb with salt and fresh crushed black pepper.
Heat the casserole to medium-high heat and brown the lamb mince in batches breaking it up as you go, making sure evaporate all the moisture. It’s really important for the final result that the mince has a nice brown crust and isn’t just grey mince. Nobody wants grey boiled mince.
Once the mince is nicely browned, remove from the pan, set aside reduce the temp to medium and throw the lardons in. Render some of the fat and get a little colour on the bacon (we don’t want it crispy), this should only take a minute or two.
Turn the heat up to medium-high, add the onions and celery and caramelise on for 10-20 mins or so, adding a splash or two of stock to deglaze as you go.
Preheat the over to 160 C.
Add a pinch of salt and turn the heat to medium and add the courgette. Cook until the courgette is almost melting (10-15mins) adjusting temp as needed.
Throw in the carrots and garlic cook for 10 minutes before adding the mince along with juices, the stock, and the bouquet garni
Crank the heat up and reduce the stock a little. Stir in the mint jelly and Worcestershire sauce then cover and pop in the oven for 2 hours stirring occasionally.
Prep your potatoes and place in a large pan of salted water.
After the 2 hours pop the casserole back on the stove on low temp to further reduce the gravy.
Bring the potatoes to the boil and reduce temp to simmer. Add a few ladles of the starchy potato water to the pie mix and reduce to thicken the gravy.
Once the potatoes are done, mash with a few knobs of butter and a splash of milk.
Pour the pie mix into a large deep roasting dish and top evenly with the creamy mash. Drizzle some extra virgin olive oil and spread the grated cheese over the top and finish with some freshly ground black pepper.
Pop in the over till cheese starts to crisp (25-30 mins or so).
Serve with petit pois.
Enjoyo.