Shepherds Pie with Celeriac Mash

A true British classic if there ever was one. Most have us have probably eaten shepherds pie all of our lives, we were even served it at school. The dish we all know is good but if made with your on home grown, organic produce is absolutely stunning and by replacing the potato topping with celeriac the pounds will not pile on for days after either!

Ingredients (serves 4)

500g of freshly minced lean lamb, hogget or mutton
1 organic celeriac
4 medium sized potatoes
2 large carrots
1 large or 2 small white onions
1 leek
1 good sized handful of fresh garden peas
3 decent sized cloves of garlic
1 pint of good home made meat stock
1 fresh tomato from the garden
A few fresh basil leaves

Method

For the celeriac mash

Using a knife remove the rough outer skin of the celeriac, dice into inch cubes and simmer in a pan of water with the potatoes for about fifteen minutes or until tender.

Once cooked drain the celeriac and potatoes, add a good knob of butter and a little olive oil, season well and give a good mashing.

For the filling

Finley chop the onions, leek and garlic

Gently heat a little oil in a large frying pan or saucepan and add the chopped onions,
leeks and garlic, cook without colour for a few minutes.

Dice the carrots and add to the pan, cook until the carrots start to soften.

Remove the vegetables from the pan and set aside

Add the mince to the still hot pan and once well browned return the already sweated vegetables, cook together for a few minutes.

Add the stock, stir thoroughly, cover and leave to gently simmer for one and a half hours stirring occasionally.
Once cooked the mixture should be quite thick and the mince should be broken down, when at this stage the fresh peas can be added and stirred through, then the mix must be seasoned to taste and removed from the heat.

Pour the meat and vegetable mixture into a deep oven proof dish and then cover with the celeriac mash, slice one tomato and arrange neatly on top.

Bake in a pre heated oven set to 200 degrees c for approximately 20 minutes or until the mash gets nicely brown.

Remove from the oven and serve.