My kids grew up eating this pie, as it is very suitable for little children. Whenever I wanted them to eat a lot, this dish does the trick for me.
When Old Boy was weaning, he threw up everything I cooked. I used to try 5 or 6 dishes per meal. By the time I finished feeding him, it was time for the next meal.
Until I made shepherds pie. He happily finished a bowl. From then, I often gave him pasta or pies, similar tasting food.
Today, I made it ‘gourmet’, using chunks of beef filet cooked in red wine for the pie. It is a delicious twist. This dish is always a hit. The Daughter had to resort to bringing friends home and said they asked for it to make me cook. 
Shepherd’s Pie
Ingredients
Filing
- 1 kg Lamb stewing cubes use beef if lamb cannot be found
- 2 Tbsp soya sauce or equivalent of salt
- 1 tsp Pepper
- 2 Tbsp flour
- 2 Tbsp oil
- 5 medium carrots cut into 1.5 cm cubes
- 1 big brown onions chopped
- 4 to matoes cut to 1/2 cm cubes
- 2 Tbsp tomato paste
- 1 cup stock
- 1/2 cup red wine not red cooking wine
- 1 Tbsp Italian herbs
Topping
- 1 kg potatoes peeled and boiled till soft
- 3 Tbsp butter
- Milk/cream as much as required to get the right consistency how much depends on potatoes used
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
Make the filing
- Season the lamb with soya sauce and pepper, and then coat with flour.
- In a non-stick pan/pot (I used the pressure cooker pot), fry these lamb/beef pieces until brown.
- Remove from pan and fry the carrots and onions.
- Add in the meat, stock, red wine and herbs and cook until meat is soft. (I used a pressure cooker and cook for 12 minutes).
- Reduce to a thick stew.
Mashed Potato toppings
- Mashed the potatoes, and add the butter.
- Adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper.
- Adjust the consistency by adding some milk if too dry.
Assembly
- Set oven to grill.
- Add the tomatoes pieces to the stew.
- Pour all of the stew a shallow dish.
- Cover the top of the stew with the mash.
- Grill on a high shelf until the top of the mash is light brown, which takes about 15 minutes.
- Serve hot with a salad or vegetable dish.
