A chance remark by a friend led to this recipe – she said she added fresh mint when she made Shepherd’s Pie and it makes a lovely, subtle difference.
Pre heat oven to 350 degrees F
1 tbsp. olive oil seasoned with salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 large onion – finely chopped
2 large cloves of garlic – grated
1 large carrot – diced into small pieces
1 pound of ground lamb
2 tbsp. fresh mint – finely chopped
1 cup of frozen peas
1/2 cup of beef broth
Pour oil into a skillet/frying pan and season.
When nice and hot tip in the onion and let soften and brown slightly before adding the garlic and diced carrot. Continue to let cook for 5 minutes or so (you want the onion and carrot pieces to be nicely browned which will add to the flavor).
Next comes the lamb which also should be browned and after that add the mint, peas and beef broth and cook for a few minutes before transferring to a casserole dish and cover with mashed potato.
Mashed Potato Topping
2 large potatoes suitable for mashing – cut into chunks
1 tbsp. non-dairy ‘butter’ ( I use Earth Balance Original)
4 tbsp. beef broth
Boil the potatoes until soft enough to mash (about 10 minutes depending on the size of the potato chunks). Mash with ‘butter’ and beef broth. Spread over the lamb mixture and cook in oven for 25 minutes.
