Shepherd’s pie or cottage pie is one of my favorites. This traditional English dish full of flavors with the ground meat and pieces of vegetables topped with mashed potatoes all finishes in the oven for a golden-brown potatoes.

Here, Shepherd’s pie is often made with ground beef but as an old school cook, I personally prefer the ground lamb meat, trying to stick to the original recipe. Besides, the flavor of the lamb meat goes very well with the vegetables and the mashed potatoes.

INGREDIENTS:

1 pound potatoes peeled and quartered

1 stick butter

1/3 cup milk

½ medium onion, chopped

1 large diced carrot

½ cup peas

1 pound ground lamb

1/2 cup water

1 clove garlic

1 bay leaf

Salt, pepper

Olive oil

Cumin, coriander

STEPS:

Place the potatoes into medium pot and add water to cover and salt to taste. Bring to the boil and cook potatoes until tender when pierced with a fork.

Heat the oil in a cast-iron pan and sauté the onions, carrots and garlic over medium heat. Cook until tender then add the spices.

Add the ground meat to the pan and cook stirring by wooden spoon until there is no pink color. Season with salt and pepper, add water and simmer in low heat for about 30 minutes. Add the peas at the end since they take little cooking time.

Drain the potatoes and blend with the hand-blender, season with salt and pepper, butter, and milk

Spread the mashed potatoes over the ground meat and put under the broiler until golden brown.