Gordon Ramsay's Shephed's Pie

Fact:  I love satellite TV now.  One reason is because we get BBC America.  Yay!  That means great shows like Being Human (vampire, werewolf, & ghost live together and trty to be normal), Top Gear (crazy Brits and cars; Hammond is cute!), and Gordon Ramsay's various cooking shows, most favorite is The F Word (mmm... cooking).  Well, Gordon is a good Scot and tries to get his mother's shepherd's pie recipe into every cooking series that he does; so needless to say, we've seen him make shepherd's pie a few times.  John and I were grocery shopping the other week and he saw minced lamb in the meat aisle!  Instantly, he came back to me and sheepishly (no pun) and asked if we could use the rare opportunity to make shepherd's pie.  So a big win for technology came about when I whipped out my phone and Googled Gordon's recipe so we could get all the ingredients.  :) 

End result is very easy and VERY yummy.  Minced meat is rosemarily delicious and makes your house smell great.  Mashed 'tatoes are fluffy and cheesy.  Overall, it's great for packing on a few pounds before winter.  ;)

Fun Fact: you can only make Shepherd's Pie with lamb.  By definition.  If you use any other meat, it's technically a Cottage Pie.

Shepherd's pie

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 500g (1lb) minced lean lamb
• 1 large onion, finely grated
• 1 large carrot, finely grated
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1-2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tbsp tomato puree (tomato paste)
  
• Handful of thyme sprigs, leaves picked
• 1 sprig of rosemary, needles chopped
• 250ml red wine (8 ounces)
  
• 300ml chicken stock (10 ounces)
  
• 1kg (2lbs) Desiree potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
• 50g (3.5 tbsp) butter
• 2 egg yolks
• Parmesan, for grating
• Olive oil
• Sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 180˚C (350F) /gas 4 -and get prepped by watching Gordon prepare this shepherd's pie.

2. Heat the oil in a large pan until hot. Season the mince and fry in the oil over moderate to high heat for 2-3 minutes. Stir the onions and carrot into the mince then grate the garlic in as well. Add the Worcestershire sauce, tomato puree and herbs and cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly. Pour in the red wine and reduce until almost completely evaporated. Add the chicken stock, bring to the boil and simmer until the sauce has thickened

3. Meanwhile, cook the potatoes in boiling salted water until tender. Drain then return to the hot pan over low heat to dry out briefly. Pass them through a potato ricer then beat in the egg yolks, followed by about 2 tbsp grated Parmesan. Check for seasoning

4. Spoon the mince into the bottom of a large ovenproof dish. Using a large spoon, layer the mashed potato generously on top of the mince, starting from the outside and working your way into the middle. Grate some extra Parmesan over and season. Fluff up the mash potato with a fork to make rough peaks. Bake in the oven for approximately 20 minutes, until bubbling and golden brown

And as Gordon would say:  "Shepherd's Pie. Done."