• 1 pack lamb mince
• Four normal sized Maris Piper potatoes
• Butter
• One onion, diced
• Two sticks celery, diced
• Two carrots, peeled and chopped into bitesize pieces
• Three cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• Three sprigs of rosemary, picked and finely chopped
• Three leaves of sage, finely chopped
• 150g or so of pancetta or bacon, diced
• Tomato puree
• Red wine
• Worcestershire sauce
• Frozen peas
• Chicken stock

In a deep sided pan, fry the lamb mince and pancetta in a little oil over a high heat until browned all over and leaving fond on the bottom of the pan. Remove using the spider, pour off any very excessive fat, then in what remains fry the onion, celery, rosemary and carrots on a lower heat until fragrant and soft. This is where you’re building a lot of the flavour, so take your time over this step.

Add the garlic and sage and cook for 45 seconds or so, then add the meat back into the pot. Stir in a generous squirt of tomato puree, cooking for 60 seconds, then add a huge great glug of red wine – a large glass or even more – and stir in a generous quantity of Worcestershire. Reduce until very thick, then add chicken stock. You want plenty, so that all is well covered by a couple of inches of liquid. Turn the heat right down and leave to reduce for two hours or so until tender.

After an hour or so of cooking, turn the oven to 210c. Lightly oil the potatoes and put them in to bake. After an hour and a bit, they should be soft to the touch. Slice each in half and push through the potato ricer into a bowl already containing half a block of butter, cubed. Beat together until smooth, season to taste and set to one side. Turn the oven down to 180c.

By now, the filling should be tender, well integrated and balanced and leave a channel on the bottom of the pot when you run your spoon through it. Mix in the peas and cook for a few minutes longer. Taste, adjust for Worcestershire, salt and pepper – be generous with the pepper – and set aside to cool for at least twenty minutes or so as the oven.

Finally, assemble. Pour the filling into the big Le Creuset skillet or one of the Pyrex baking dishes. Top with the mash, making nice peaks and ragged bits that will give a bit of textural variation. Bake until the potato top is browned and delicious and the filling is bubbling around the edges.