Sip and Feast Shepherd's Pie (Slow Cooker)

Sip and Feast builds this shepherd's pie on the hob with browned lamb mince, carrot, celery, onion, garlic, tomato paste, Guinness, Worcestershire and beef stock, then assembles it in baking dishes with a piped Parmigiano mashed potato top and finishes for 20 minutes at 400 degrees Fahrenheit. It translates to the slow cooker by keeping the lamb browning and aromatic build on the hob (slow cookers don't brown, and that crust is where the flavour starts), then letting the filling tick along in the slow cooker low and slow before assembly and the oven finish. Mashed potatoes use russets, butter, double cream, egg yolks and Parmigiano Reggiano. The original recipe uses one and a half cups each of diced carrot, celery and onion.

Ingredients

• 900 glamb mince
• 2carrots, large, diced (about 1.5 cups)
• 3celery ribs, diced (about 1.5 cups)
• 1onion, large, diced (about 1.5 cups)
• 5 clovesgarlic, minced
• 85 gtomato paste
• 30 gplain flour
• 355 mlGuinness stout
• 360 mllow sodium beef stock
• 60 mlWorcestershire sauce
• 1 tbspfresh thyme, chopped
• 1 tbspfresh rosemary, chopped
• frozen peas
• cooking oil, for browning the lamb

• 1800 grusset potatoes, peeled, cut into even chunks
• 113 gbutter, melted
• 180 mldouble cream
• 3egg yolks
• 100 gParmigiano Reggiano, grated
• 1.5 tspsalt

• cheddar cheese, grated (add late)

Method

1. Dice the carrots, celery and onion. Mince the garlic. Chop the thyme and rosemary.

   ~10 min

2. Heat a large pan or Dutch oven over medium heat (let stainless heat up for about 3 minutes before adding fat). Add a touch of oil if needed, then the lamb mince. Press it flat to brown one side, flip, then break it up with a masher or spoon.

   ~8 min

3. Knock the heat down a touch and add the diced carrot, celery and onion. Soften for a few minutes.

   ~5 min

4. Add the minced garlic and cook for a minute or two until fragrant.

   ~2 min

5. Stir in the tomato paste and cook out for a couple of minutes. If it starts to catch on the bottom, pull the pan off, add a splash of water and carry on.

   ~3 min

6. Turn the heat up high and pour in the Guinness. Reduce until the liquid is almost gone, scraping the brown bits off the bottom with a flat-edged spoon. This takes about 4 minutes on high.

   ~4 min

7. Drop the heat to medium low (about 4 out of 10). Sprinkle in the flour and cook out for one to two minutes to remove the raw flour taste.

   ~2 min

8. Add the beef stock, frozen peas, thyme, rosemary and Worcestershire sauce. Stir well.

   ~2 min

9. Tip everything into the slow cooker. Cover and cook on Low for 6 hours or High for 3 hours. Taste and adjust seasoning at the end (be sparing because the sauce will be potent after the long cook).

   ~360 min

10. About 45 minutes before serving, put the peeled potatoes into a pot of cold water, bring to the boil, then knock the heat down to about three quarters and cook until a knife slides through without resistance (around 25 to 35 minutes).

    ~30 min

11. Drain the potatoes and push them through a ricer (or use a mixer). Stir in the melted butter, double cream, salt and one cup of the grated Parmigiano (reserve a quarter cup for the top). Taste and adjust salt. Beat in the three egg yolks once the potatoes are seasoned to your liking.

    ~8 min

12. Heat the oven to 200C (400F) with one rack in the middle and one near the top. Spoon the lamb filling into one or two baking dishes in a hefty layer.

    ~5 min

13. Pipe or scoop the mashed potatoes over the filling, sealing it in to the edges so it doesn't bubble through. Agitate the top with a fork or the back of a spoon to give it texture (more peaks crisp up better). Sit the dishes on a tray in case anything overflows.

    ~5 min

14. Scatter the reserved Parmigiano over the top (and grated cheddar on a second dish if you like, leaving a little area exposed so it doesn't form an unbroken cheese cap).

    ~1 min

15. Bake uncovered on the middle rack for 20 minutes. For the last 2 to 3 minutes move up to the top rack just under the grill to colour the top, watching it carefully.

    ~23 min

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