This recipe is a delicious twist on the classic Shepherd’s Pie swapping beef mince for lamb mince and  sweet potato for normal potatoes. Lamb has a higher fat content than beef so I always pour away the excess fat once the mince is browned.  The sweet potato rosti-type topping is lovely and light and not as heavy as a traditional mashed potato topping. I sometimes serve it with extra potatoes e.g. mashed potato and some green vegetables to make the dish go further. The optional grated cheese on top gives it a nice crispy topping.

(adapted from an original recipe of Lorraine Pascale’s)

You will need a 2 litre ovenproof dish (at least 5cm deep). The enamel dish in the picture measures 32cm x 23cm.

Serves 4

Preparation Time: 30 minutes
Cooking Time: 25 minutes

Ingredients for the pie

Olive oil
2 sprigs of fresh rosemary (remove leaves and chop roughly)
4 leaves of fresh sage, roughly chopped
750g lamb mince
3 carrots, finely diced
1 garlic clove, minced
400g tin / carton of chopped tomatoes (finely chopped if you can get them)
400ml beef stock
70g tomato purée
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 spring onions, chopped
100g frozen peas
1 tsp caster sugar (optional / to taste)

Ingredients for the topping
2 medium sweet* potatoes (peeled)
25g butter
50g grated red Cheddar cheese (optional)
Salt & pepper

*You can use normal potatoes or a mix of both

Preheat the oven to 200°C (fan 180°C), 400°F or Gas Mark 6

• Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan and add the chopped rosemary and sage leaves
• Add the lamb mince, stir and cook for 5 minutes or until the meat is browned all over
• Drain any liquid and excess fat from the saucepan
• Add the diced carrots and the minced garlic and cook for 2 minutes
• Add the tinned tomatoes, tomato purée, stock, Worcestershire sauce and cook for a further 15 minutes

In the meantime, get started on the sweet potato topping by bringing a saucepan of water up to the boil, put in the 2 whole sweet potatoes and simmer for 5-6 minutes. Note 1 : – if using normal potatoes cut them in half as they take longer to cook   Note 2 : The potatoes are not being fully cooked here just enough so they can be grated.

• Drain the potatoes and set them aside until cool enough to handle
• Grate the potatoes roughly
• Melt the butter in a saucepan and toss in the grated potatoes, mixing well
• Season with salt and pepper
• Remove the sauce from the heat and add the spring onions and frozen peas
• Taste the sauce and add a pinch of sugar if the tomato flavour is too sharp
• Put the mixture into an oven proof dish, scatter the grated potato on top & fluff it up with a fork
• Bake in the oven for 25 minutes

Note: If you are adding the cheese, 5 minutes before the end of the cooking time scatter it over the top to melt it fully.