This is a seriously yummy pie! Not a true representation of a shepherds pie because the meat filling is a little more complex, but what it lacks in simplicity it makes up for in TASTE! And because we are making this dairy free, we are not going to smother it in cheese, so it does need a little more oomph for those of us who cannot eat dairy.
Mmmm! Sadly it has all been eaten. I will have to make another one now.
Ingredients
1 portion of Savoury Pie Crust, gluten and dairy free
250g lamb mince
250g beef mince
200g diced bacon
1 carrot, finely chopped
1 celery stick, finely chopped
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tablespoon olive oil
zest of one lemon
1 tablespoon oregano, chopped
1 teaspoon dried, ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon mint, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon gluten free soy sauce
500ml water
40g gluten free cornflour or tapioca starch
4 large mashing potatoes
Olive oil extra
dash of almond milk
1/3 cup pine nuts
1 teaspoon dried chives
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 egg
Press your pastry into a loose bottomed flan dish, I used my 25cm shallow sided one, but a deeper one would be fine too and there would be less risk of a mess in the bottom of the oven if it oozes. Pop that in the freezer to set.
In a medium sized pot saute the carrot, celery, onion, garlic and bacon in the olive oil until everything is soft and has collapsed a bit.
Good. Now, add your minces, and the water, herbs, spices, zest and soy sauce. Yes, yes, that is right, you heard me. No, we are not going to brown our mince, that will make this tough. We want a nice, silky, meaty sauce for this, so we are going to boil it, not fry it, if it makes you feel better you can call it braising. Whatever you call it, in goes the meat, flavourings and water. Now bring that to a good rolling boil.
Give it a good stir while it is heating to break up any meat clods. When it is boiling, loosen up the cornflour or tapioca starch with a little more water until it is smooth and you are able to pour it, then add it in a thin stream, stirring all the while, until the sauce becomes a thick, fragrant meaty filling.
See? You gotta have faith.
Right, now set that aside (I put mine in the freezer because I am an impatient person) to cool while we make the top.
Peel the potatoes and boil until they are soft, then mash them until they are quite smooth with about a tablespoon of olive oil and a dash of almond milk. For me, I piped this on top of the pie filling as it needs a light hand to get it to float, if you are going to spoon it on and use a fork to spread it, I would recommend you pour your filling into the base first and partially freeze it or you risk pushing the filling out while you are topping it with the potato, regardless, soft hands, remember our pastry chef’s hands Cookie House people.
In your little food processor, or by hand if you prefer, whiz or chop the pine nuts with the dried chives and garlic powder to form a soft crumb, not too much, we are not making nut butter, we want crumbly crumbs, not smooth paste. Set aside.
Preheat your oven to 180 degrees C. Brush your pie crust with the beaten egg.
Top with the cold filling and smooth it to the sides.
Pop your mash into a big piping bag fitted with a large star nozzle (or you can do wit with a fork as discussed earlier, just be very gentle). Pipe the potato all over the top, don’t worry about being too neat, just try to fill up all the gaps so you can’t see the meat filling.
So pretty! Top with your pine nut crumb.
And into your hot oven for about forty minutes until it is golden and smelling very gorgeous and irresistible. I would most definitely recommend putting an empty baking tray under this if you have filled it right up beyond the brim like I have, the likelihood of ooze is high and it is easier to clean a tray than an oven.
Allow it too cool for about ten minutes before serving with salad or steamed veg.
Quite simply a beautiful gluten and dairy free pie. You see why I always say that people with food intolerances need not miss out? There is nothing hard about this, and you can serve this to the whole family and no one would think that it was lacking anything, because it isn’t. Enjoy my friends. Xxm