Thirty-Hour Shepherd’s Pie | Recipe

Wayne @NationalDish — Fri, 10 Oct 2025 17:00:19 +0000

Shepherd’s Pie is a British Classic

There are few dishes that reward patience quite like a traditional shepherd’s pie. This slow-cooked lamb version is stripped back to its essentials — two days, one pot, and a handful of good ingredients that build quietly into something remarkable.

Often, shepherd’s pie was a way to use up leftover roast lamb — simple, thrifty cooking at its best. In this case, we’ve gone all in from the start, braising lamb shanks for depth and richness. Both approaches are preferable to the shortcut of mince, which can never quite replicate the texture or flavour of true slow-cooked lamb.

The dish has its roots in the rural kitchens of the British Isles in the late 18th century, when the potato became a staple and leftover meat needed a second life. Whether from England, Scotland or Ireland, the idea was the same: nothing wasted, everything transformed — and few comfort foods speak so directly to home cooking.

I made this during a rare weekend off from coaching girls football, be assured, this Shepherd’s Pie is incredible but not nearly as good as my football team!

Thirty-Hour Shepherd’s Pie | Recipe

A slow-cooked lamb shepherd’s pie recipe made with lamb shanks, homemade stock and buttery Maris Piper mash. Traditional British comfort food, perfected over 30 hours. Don't worry, you won't need to shepherd it for 30 hours. Start with a casserole to braise the lamb and make stock.

CourseMain Dish
CuisineBritish
KeywordHomemade, Stew

Servings4 People

Prep Time1 Hour

Cook Time30 Minutes

Passive Time28.5 Hours

Ingredients

For the Stock

2Large lambshanks
1Large carrotcut into chunks
1Large onioncut into chunks
2Sticks celerycut into chunks
8Whole black pepper corns
3/4Litre's waterenough to cover the lamb to about 2 thirds

For the Pie Filling

Allof the meat from the lambshanks
2 carrotsfinely diced
1 onionfinely diced
1Stick celeryfinely diced
1tbsp corn flour
2tsp Worcestershire sauce
500ml lambstock (the stuff you just made when braising the lamb)
sea salt flakes
black pepper

For the topping

1kg potatoesMaris Piper
2 egg yolks
300ml double cream
sea salt flakesto taste, carefully

Instructions

The Stock and pulled lamb (Day 1) Place the lamb shanks, carrot, onion, celery and peppercorns in a heavy casserole. Add water to come three-quarters up the sides of the shanks. Don't brown the meat, it'll catch a tiny bit if gnarl, but when it's in the pie, you want it soft and silky. Cover and roast in the oven at 130 °C for 6 hours. The meat should fall from the bone and the liquid should have turned into a rich, gelatinous stock. Lift out the shanks, strain the stock, and refrigerate both overnight. Discard the spent vegetables.
The Filling (Day 2) Skim and discard any fat from the chilled stock. Shred the lamb from the bones and set aside, be careful to pick out any small bones. There's a particularly pin like bone in each shank, make sure you find those. In a clean pan, melt a little butter or dripping. Gently sweat the fresh carrot, onion and celery until soft and aromatic, avoid any colour. Stir in the flour to make a light roux, then add the shredded lamb. Gradually pour in enough of the reserved stock to form a thick, glossy mixture. Add the Worcestershire sauce and simmer until the sauce clings to the meat. Season generously to taste with salt and black pepper. Spoon into a deep baking dish and leave to cool slightly.
The Mash Boil the Maris Piper potatoes in salted water until tender. Drain well and return to the pan over low heat to steam off excess moisture. Mash with all of the cream and the egg yolks until smooth and rich, add a little milk if you need to loosed it up, you don't want it runny at all though - so be careful. Season well, taste it. With a spatula gently scoop it into the roasting dish, creating a layer on top of the filling. Rough up the surface with a fork, I made a Union Jack - the texture will crisp beautifully in the oven.
Bake Bake at 200 °C for 30–35 minutes, until the top is golden and the filling bubbles at the edges. There’s no need for cheese — the richness of the lamb and stock speaks for itself. You choose the colour as it bakes, you want a few burnt peaks for sure.
Serve I served it with a big spoon full of peas, but any green vegetable loves sitting beside a Classic Shepherd's Pie. Enjoy

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Zimbabwean and African Oxtail Stew | National Dish Recipe

Wayne @NationalDish — Tue, 17 Jan 2023 14:09:43 +0000

Oxtail Stew, especially when coming from Africa, is insane.

Some people get a little weird about cooking with oxtail – which I sort of get, sort of (I’m being a little polite), but they wouldn’t have an issue with oxtail soup from a can, and it tastes way better when you make it fresh.

Everyone knows, anything you cook low and slow, on the bone, is gonna be awesome, this African oxtail stew recipe is no different.

In terms of the country of origin for this oxtail stew recipe, I could have gone British, it’s very traditional. Oxtail is a fascinating ingredient, used all over the world and Sub-Saharan Africa in particular is a massive consumer and I love African cuisine, which is only going to get more popular, plus it has some spice, which = winner. I’ve tried a few and this one is from Zimbabwe.

I’ve said it’s really easy and it is. 30 mins prep and then let is sit in the oven for 3 hours. Before we get going, whack the oven on full and pop a cast iron casserole dish in there – do this first, put the kettle on too for beef stock.

Oxtail Stew Recipe

Oven is on and the casserole dish should be in there getting nice and hot - we'll roast of the oxtails for 20 minutes before adding the stew ingredients and then you can go to the pub for a couple of hours.

CourseMain Dish
CuisineAfrican, Zimbabwean
KeywordAfrica, Oxtail, Stew

Servings4 people

Prep Time30 minutes

Cook Time3 hours

Ingredients

650grams oxtailcut into chunks - as they come is fine
2whole white onionroughly chopped
2whole bay leaves
3 birdseye chilliessliced
2tbls plain flourto dust the oxtail
500ml beef stockboil the kettle up front and get this ready
3cloves garliccrushed or finely chopped
1tin chopped tomatoes400g tin will do it
2 green pepperde-seeded and chopped into handy chunks
1tsp curry powderyup, gives it a slightly different angle - this one is rather important
1tsp thymefresh is ideal but dried will do - just don't leave it out
2tbls tomato puree

Instructions

Ok, before we start chopping everything up, let's sort the oxtail out. The casserole dish should be in the oven and either getting very hot or already is. In this order, oil the oxtail and then season generously with Maldon Sea Salt and dust with the flour.
Pull the hot casserole dish out of the oven and put on the hob, add a couple of tablespoons of oil and then add all the oxtail (or in batches). Put the lid on and place back into the oven for 20 minutes - no more though, lets not burn the oxtail. During this time you can prep the other ingredients - do the beef stock first. You can seal it on the hob too, but I found this way gives the Oxtail a better finish.
Pull the casserole pot out of the oven and turn the heat down to 140 degrees. Remove the oxtail and put aside and place the casserole dish on hob, medium heat. The Oxtail should be gnarly leaving behind some tasty fat for the next step.
Add all the onions and fry for 5 minutes and then add the garlic, chillies, green pepper, thyme, curry powder and tomato puree. Stir and fry for another few minutes, gently until soft. Then add all the beef stock and bayleaves.
Give it a good stir and add the oxtail back in, push below the surface of the sauce (top up with water if you need to) and replace the lid. Place into the oven for 3 hours at 140 degrees. Check it hourly and prevent it drying out by adding more water.
You'll then have a deep bath for the Oxtail, ready to go in the oven - you can then chill. Won't hurt to check it half way through, to make sure you haven't lost too much liquid.
After three hours the meat should have been falling off the bones and you should have plenty of sauce - it serves wonderfully with white rice, but that's up to you - why not just grab a bowl and crusty bread?
Thank you Zimbabwe, Africa

The post Zimbabwean and African Oxtail Stew | National Dish Recipe appeared first on National Dish.

Stew Archives | National Dish

Thirty-Hour Shepherd’s Pie | Recipe

Zimbabwean and African Oxtail Stew | National Dish Recipe