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.
Servings Prep Time
4People 1Hour
Cook Time Passive Time
30Minutes 28.5Hours
Servings Prep Time
4People 1Hour
Cook Time Passive Time
30Minutes 28.5Hours
Ingredients
For the Stock
For the Pie Filling
For the topping
Instructions
  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. Serve I served it with a big spoon full of peas, but any green vegetable loves sitting beside a Classic Shepherd’s Pie. Enjoy