Recipe: Shepherd's pie

Shepherds pie. Photo / Doug Sherring

This is a classic New Zealand dish that I doubt gets cooked much these days. Based on the minced-up leftovers of Sunday's roast, with some more vegetables added, moistened with the last of the gravy and topped with mashed potato, Monday's "tea" was on the table.

You could reproduce this with your leftover roast lamb, or you could start from scratch with some lamb mince and make this as a down home offering.

Serves 6

• 500g of lamb mince
• 3 carrots, peeled and diced
• 2 medium onions, peeled and diced
• 3 sticks of celery, peeled and diced
• 1 cup of frozen peas
• 1 cup of gravy or beef stock
• 4 medium-sized mashing potatoes, peeled and cooked until tender.

Preheat your oven to 180C

1. In a big fry pan melt 2 tablespoons of butter or oil.

2. Add the diced vegetables to the pan and soften these.

3. Add the lamb mince, turn up the heat and toss the mixture together until the meat is browned.

4. Add the peas. Season well with salt and pepper.

5. Dust this with 2 tablespoons of plain flour. Mix and cook for another 5 minutes.

6. Add the gravy or stock. Stir over the heat until you have a thick stew-like consistency. Place this mix into a shallow baking dish.

Mashed Potato Topping

1. Heat half a cup of milk with 2 tablespoons of butter. Season with salt and pepper.

2. Pour this over the cooked potatoes and mash well to combine.

3. Spread this over the top of lamb mix.

4. Dot with a few knobs of butter and place into the oven. Once the pie mix is bubbling up under the potato top and the potato is slightly coloured, it's ready to serve with a good home-made tomato sauce or chutney.

Mint Sauce

You need fresh garden mint for this, about a cup of leaves taken from the stalk.

1. Roughly chop these and place them in a heat proof bowl.

2. Add 2 tablespoons of raw sugar and mash this into the mint.

3. Add half a cup of white or malt vinegar and stir all this together.

4. Add half a cup of boiling water and mix well to dissolve the sugar.

5. Leave to stand at least 15 minutes to infuse the flavours.

Put in a small jug and serve with the roast lamb.