A North African makeover on the humble Shepherd's Pie

Another delight from River Cottage A to Z

This time I have turned to the letter L. This is one of Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's lamb recipes, North African Shepherd's Pie. It turns the humble Shepherd's Pie into something far more exciting. The resulting dish is warming and delicious, with a sweetness from the carrots, apricots and cinnamon, and a hint of exotic spices to add a bit of a kick.

It is a dish made in stages.

The first stage is to make the lamb and spice layer. Sweating onions and carrots, browning off the lamb mince, merging these together and adding herbs (bay, rosemary) and ground spices (coriander, cumin, cinnamon) plus chilli (I used chilli flakes), slivers of lemon peel (preserved lemon is best) and chopped apricots.  Once these are mixed together add a tin of chopped tomatoes and a cup of water, season and leave to simmer for 40 mins.

The second stage is making the topping.  Simmer chopped potatoes (King Edwards work well) and butternut squash for 20 mins, then drain and mash with a splash of good olive oil and some plain yogurt (I also added a spoonful of double cream that I happened to have in the fridge) and season with salt and pepper. The mash will look a bit orange, from the squash.

Once both stages are finished just put the mince layer in an ovenproof dish and top this with the mash mixture.  Bake for 20 mins (200 deg. C / 180 fan).

The resulting pie looks homely and comforting and tastes wonderful!

A simple green salad on the side works a treat.

This will definitely be a dish that I will make again, thanks Hugh!

Here's a link to the A to Z cookbook on Amazon:

AtoZ