Individual Shepherds Pie

Instructions

1. First heat a drizzle of olive oil of a few sprays of light cooking spray in a frying pan over a medium high heat. Add the onion and garlic and fry for a couple of minutes until starting to soften.

2. Add the carrots and celery and fry for a further 10 minutes, lowering the heat slightly if needed. You want the sweetness to start to come out of the veg and go nice and soft, but not darken too much. Stir or toss the pan every couple of minutes to make sure things cook evenly.

3. Add the mince to the pan and turn everything consistently together to make sure the mince is broken up and combined well with the veg. Once the mince is browned, add the stock, red wine, tomato puree, peas, bay leaf, flour and a couple of sprigs of the thyme. Stir everything together well and then cook at a slight simmer for 40 minutes.

4. After 40 minutes, remove the meat pan from the heat and set aside See note 1. Preheat the oven to 180C. Add the potatoes to a large pan of cold water.

5. Bring to the boil and cook for around 10 minutes – until cooked. Tip the potatoes into a sieve and let steam for a minute – you don’t want the potatoes to be too watery so make sure you do steam them. After a minute or so use a ricer to mash the potatoes. See note 2.

6. Tip the meat mixture into an individual casserole dish or oven proof bowl. Mine is 6 x 6 inches wide and 1.5 tall, which was the perfect size. Top with the potatoes and spread them out so they cover the dish evenly.

7. 
   Scatter the cheddar over the top.

8. 
   Bake in the oven for 20 minutes so that the potatoes are browned a little on the top and the cheese melted. Eat & enjoy!