Shepherd's Pie

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 900 g minced beef
• 3 onions
• 3 carrots
• 3 stalk(s) celery
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• ½ tsp thyme
• ½ tsp rosemary
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 2 tsp tomato ketchup
• 3 glasses of red wine
• 25 g flour
• 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 250 ml meat broth
• e.g. salt and pepper
• Oil for frying
• 1,000 g potatoes
• ¼ liter of milk
• some butter
• nutmeg
• Salt
• 250 g Cheddar cheese for sprinkling

Instructions

Working time approx. 5 hours; Cooking/baking time approx. 40 minutes; Total time approx. 5 hours 40 minutes

Season the minced meat with salt and pepper. Finely chop the onions and dice the carrots and celery. Brown the minced meat in batches and remove from the pan. In the same pan, brown the finely chopped vegetables, lightly seasoning with pepper and salt, and seasoning with cinnamon and herbs. Sauté for about 5 minutes until soft, then add the minced meat and cook for another 5 minutes over medium heat. Now add the Worcestershire sauce, tomato ketchup, and tomato paste and mix well. Let it simmer briefly, then start with the wine: add half a glass at a time, stir in, and reduce. Continue until all three glasses are incorporated, then sprinkle in the flour and stir briefly until it thickens. Now add the boiling meat broth and simmer everything over medium heat for 1-1.5 hours (careful! Stir constantly, otherwise it will burn!) until it reaches a thick, creamy consistency. If this happens too early, add a little more broth – for the casserole, however, the final consistency should be thick and mushy. Place the meat and vegetable mixture in a shallow casserole dish (ideally let it cool in there) and then start with the mashed potatoes. For the mashed potatoes, peel, chop, and wash the potatoes. Boil in salted water for approx. 15-20 minutes until tender. Drain the water. Lightly mash the potatoes, add the milk, butter, nutmeg, and salt, and stir again lightly with a fork. The consistency should be a little firmer than usual, so start by reducing the amount of milk and butter. Spread the mashed potatoes over the meat and vegetable mixture. Bake in the oven at 190-200 degrees Celsius for about 35-40 minutes. Sprinkle with grated cheddar cheese 15 minutes before the end of the cooking time, if desired. It takes about 6-7 hours from start to finish. My dish measures 34x23x6 cm (LxWxH) and is oval. Tips: Instead of ground beef, you can mix ground beef and lamb. If you can’t find celery, you can also use peas and carrots. I like to use a whole bottle of red wine.