Shepherd's pie

• 1.5 lbground lamb or ground beef · 90% lean, lamb for a true shepherd's pie
• 2 tbspextra-virgin olive oil · divided
• 1yellow onion · finely diced
• 2carrots · finely diced
• 2 stalkscelery · finely diced
• 3 clovesgarlic · minced
• 2 tbsptomato paste
• 1 tbspWorcestershire sauce · or coconut aminos for gluten-free
• 1 tbspcornstarch · slaked in 2 tbsp cold water
• 1.5 cupsbeef or chicken stock · low-sodium
• 2 tspfresh thyme · leaves picked, or 1 tsp dried
• 1 cupfrozen peas
• 2 lbYukon Gold potatoes · peeled, cut into 2-inch chunks
• 1parsnip · peeled and chunked, optional but good
• 3 tbspextra-virgin olive oil · for the mash
• 1/3 cupwarm whole milk · or stock, to loosen the mash
• 1egg yolk · for the top, helps it brown
• 1 tspkosher salt · plus more for the potato water
• 1/2 tspblack pepper

Method

1. 1

   Brown the meat in two batches, hard, in a wide pan

   A pound and a half of lamb in one crowded pan steams grey and the whole dish tastes flat afterwards. Split it, press each batch into a thin layer in a hot pan with a spoon of oil, and leave it undisturbed for three minutes until a genuine crust forms before breaking it up. That crust is the entire flavour base of a shepherd's pie, and no amount of Worcestershire later will replace it.

2. 2

   Dice the vegetables small so they disappear into the filling

   Onion, carrot, and celery cut to about a quarter inch, cooked in the rendered fat for eight minutes until soft and starting to colour. Big chunks of carrot make the filling feel like a stew with a lid on it. Small dice melts into the gravy and thickens it slightly on its own. Garlic goes in for the last thirty seconds so it does not scorch.

3. 3

   Cook out the tomato paste before any liquid goes in

   Two tablespoons of tomato paste stirred into the hot vegetables and meat, cooked for a full minute until it darkens from red to brick. Raw tomato paste tastes tinny and sharp; cooked, it turns savoury and deep. This is thirty seconds of attention that changes how the finished dish reads, and it is the step most recipes skip.

4. 4

   Reduce the gravy until a spoon leaves a trail

   Stock, Worcestershire, thyme, and the slaked cornstarch go in, then it simmers uncovered for ten to twelve minutes. You are looking for a filling where a spoon dragged across the bottom of the pan leaves a channel that holds for a second before it fills. Anything looser floods the plate under the mash. Stir the frozen peas in at the very end so they stay green.

5. 5

   Dry the potatoes in the empty pan before adding fat

   Boil the potatoes and parsnip in well-salted water until a knife slides through, drain them, then return them to the dry pan over low heat for a minute and shake. Visible steam leaves. Mash that goes straight from the colander to the fat carries that water into the dish and ends up loose. Mash with a ricer or a masher, never a food processor, which turns the starch to glue.

6. 6

   Olive oil in the mash, egg yolk on top

   Three tablespoons of olive oil and a splash of warm milk gives you a mash that tastes rich without a cup of cream, and the parsnip adds a faint sweetness that plays against the lamb. Beat an egg yolk into the top third of the mash before spreading. That yolk is what gives you a genuinely brown, glossy crust rather than a pale one.

7. 7

   Spread from the edges in, then rough up the surface

   Spoon the mash around the perimeter of the dish first and seal it to the edges, then fill the middle. Sealing the border stops the filling bubbling up and over. Drag a fork across the top in ridges, since ridges are surface area and surface area is browning. A little grated Parmesan over the ridges is not traditional and is very good.

8. 8

   Bake at 400F for 25 minutes, then rest for 10

   Twenty-five minutes until the edges bubble and the ridges are brown, with three minutes under the broiler if the top is still shy. Then it rests for ten minutes on the counter, and that rest is not optional: cut it straight from the oven and the filling runs. Ten minutes lets it set enough to hold a clean square on the plate.