Sunday Supper: Lamb Shepherd's Pie For Two.

Ingredients and instructions right at the top, because I'm not here to scroll-jack you for ad revenue...

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 a container of the pre-chopped mire poix from Trader Joe's
• 1/2 pound of ground lamb
• 1 garlic clove minced (or 1 teaspoon of pre-minced garlic from the jar)
• 1/2 cup of dry white wine
• 3 tablespoons of tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce
• 1 cup of broth (I use chicken, but you can use beef)
• Couple good shakes of kosher salt
• About 6 twists of black pepper from the grinder
• 1/8 cup of fresh peas (I prefer fresh, but you can use tinned... Just drain them first)
• 1 yukon potato
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/8 cup of milk or half & half

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Get a large pot/dutch oven over a medium high flame, and add the extra virgin olive oil and get heated up.
3. Throw in the mire poix and cook (stirring every minute or so) till the onions glisten and the celery/carrots soften.
4. While cooking the mire poix, boil a small pot of water on a seperate burner. Chop up the potato to 1/2 inch chunks. These will be used to make mashed potatoes. Throw the potato chunks in and put the lid on. Let come to a boil over 15 minutes.
5. Once you get the mire poix softened, toss in the 1/2 pound of ground lamb. Break down into small grounds and cook through. Consider - once it is cooked - taking a wad of paper towels and using the to blot some of the grease out of the mixture.
6. This is when I like to add the minced garlic. Cook it with the rest of the mixture for minute.
7. Add in the white wine. Let it cook for a minute or two. Until almost completely disappears.
8. Add in the tomato paste and stir around. Let cook for a minute.
9. Throw in the broth. Let things come to a boil, then put the kosher salt and black pepper in - as well as the peas... Then turn the heat down just below medium and let simmer with the lid off.
10. By now, the potato chunks should be soft and easy to mash with a fork. Pull them off the burner and drain. Throw back in the pot you cooked them in.
11. Add butter, creamer/milk, salt, and pepper to the pot. And then stir and mash, breaking things down to a mash.
12. By now the liquid in the meat mixture should be almost gone. Turn off the burner. Take a spoon and flatten out the mixture so that is nice and evenly dispersed.
13. Spoon the mashed potato mixture on top. Spread evenly.
14. Shove into the oven for about 35-45 minutes - depending on how crispy you want the mashed potatoes to get. 

Then it is time to eat. 

I hadn’t touched Shepherd’s Pie in about 35 years. As a kid, we turned our noses up whenever my mum made it. But this week in Tucson has been that strange desert autumn mix—rainy, cloudy, and still in the 90s. That called for comfort food.

And honestly? It delivered. Cozy, nostalgic, hearty. Perfect for the season. Plus, there are leftovers—which feels like winning twice.