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Sophie's Shepherds pie with champ - two ways

by Sophie Dahl from The Delicious Miss Dahl

Serves 2
Ingredients

For the champ topping
sea salt
6 floury potatoes, peeled and chopped
handful of frozen peas
4 spring onions roughly chopped
knob of butter
50ml milk
freshly ground pepper
150g cheddar cheese - broken into chunks
¼ tsp smoked paprika

For the tomato sauce base
2 red onions, peeled & roughly chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled & crushed
4 small carrots, peeled & chopped into small pieces
2 sticks of celery, chopped into small pieces
2 cans plum tomatoes
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp tabasco
¼ tsp smoked paprika
2 bay leaves
175ml red wine
200ml vegetable stock
couple of springs of rosemary
splash of balsamic vinegar
small handful of flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped
sea salt and freshly ground pepper

For the beef mixture
250g lean beef mince

For the lentil mixture
1 tin puy lentils

METHOD:
1.For the champ topping, heat a pan of water, season with salt and add the potatoes and bring gently to the boil, simmer gently.

2. For the tomato sauce base, heat a large frying pan and add some olive oil. Add the chopped onion, garlic, carrots and celery and fry gently to soften a little for 5-10 minutes.

3. Add the tinned tomatoes, Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco, smoked paprika, bay leaves, red wine, vegetable stock and the rosemary.

4. Add the balsamic vinegar and some roughly chopped parsley and season well with salt and pepper. Bring to the boil.

5. At this stage the sauce needs to cook for a few minutes on a medium heat until the vegetables are soft and then it is ready to be divided in two.

6. For the beef mince - heat a frying pan, add a pack of lean beef mince and fry off until the mince is a nice brown colour

7. Transfer half the tomato sauce into the browned beef.

8. Add the tin of lentils to the remaining tomato sauce.

9. Leave both frying pans on the hob while you finish the champ

10. Now finish off the champ topping. When the potatoes are almost done add the frozen peas and cook for a further minutes.

11. Chop the spring onions, melt a knob of butter in a small saucepan and then soften the onions in the butter

12. Once the onions are softened add the milk and heat gently.

13. Drain the potatoes and peas and mash roughly.

14. Add the milk/butter/spring onion mixture to the potatoes and continue to mash until you have lovely chunky mash.

15. Spoon either some of the lentil or beef mixture into an individual pie dish.

16. Top each of the side dishes with half of the champ. Crumble over the cheese and smoked paprika.

17. Place your individual shepherds pie on a baking sheet in a preheated oven at 200C for about 25 - 30 minutes.

More recipes from Sophie Dahl
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Crab, Salmon and Dill Fishcakes
Sophie's Shepherds Pie