Place the oil and butter in a large pan with a lid over a medium heat. Add the onion and gently fry for 5 minutes. Add the carrots, celery, mushrooms and thyme, and season. Stir through and continue frying gently for another 15 minutes, stirring from time to time.
Add the lamb mince to the pan, breaking it up into large chunks with a wooden spoon. Then add the garlic and parsley and stir them through. Fry the mixture until all the meat has browned and any liquid has evaporated.
Stir in the wine, tinned tomatoes, Worcestershire sauce and tomato purée and stir. Cover the pan and allow it to simmer for 1 hour. Check that the mixture is not burning, sticking or drying out and stir it occasionally, adding a little water if the mixture becomes too dry. Once it is done, taste and season again if necessary.
Meanwhile, prepare the mash by boiling the potatoes in plenty of salted water until they are very soft when poked with a sharp knife. Drain the spuds and mash them. I use a mouli (pictured on page), which makes a lovely lump-free mash. Stir through the milk and butter. You may need a bit more or less milk but you want to end up with a fairly soft mash. Add the salt (you may need more than you think).
When your mixture has simmered for an hour, pour it into your pie dish. Cover the mixture with the mash, then use a fork to rough the surface of the mash into small peaks, which will become lovely and crispy. Dot the mash with butter all over. Place the pie dish in the oven and bake for 35 minutes or until the top is golden.
Serve with buttered peas.
Osso Bucco is one of my son Felix’s favourite dishes; one he likes me to make on his birthday!
SERVES 4
FOR THE FILLING:
2 tbsp olive oil
4 large pieces of veal shin or osso bucco, with bones approx. 2kg (4lb 8oz) in total (see tip, page 32)
1 tbsp plain flour, seasoned with salt and pepper
a knob of butter
1 large red onion, chopped
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
1 stick celery, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 small glass white wine (about 150ml / 5fl oz)
400g (14oz) tin plum tomatoes
1 small wine glass beef stock (about 150ml / 5fl oz)
2 strips orange peel cut with a potato peeler
1 handful fresh parsley, chopped
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 egg, beaten
FOR THE PASTRY:
100g (3½oz) suet
200g (7oz) self-raising flour
a large pinch of salt
4 tbsp very cold water
Heat the oil in a casserole big enough to take the meat all in one layer. Coat the osso bucco in the seasoned flour and fry over a medium-high heat turning once until lightly browned on both sides. Remove from the pan and set aside.
Reduce the heat, add the butter and gently fry the onion, carrots and celery for 10 minutes. Mix through the garlic and season. Fry for a couple more minutes and then pour in the wine. Scrape the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon to dislodge any flour sticking to the bottom. Simmer for 5 minutes. Throw in the tomatoes, stock and orange peel, giving the tomatoes a bit of a mash with your spoon. Return the meat to the pan, submerging it in the sauce. Leave the pot to simmer gently for 1½ hours, stirring from time to time. Add some water if it starts to dry out.
Preheat the oven to 220°C (425°F/Gas 7). Meanwhile, make the pastry by mixing all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl, using your hands mix in the water until you have a soft dough. Knead for a couple of minutes until it becomes smooth and elastic. Cover with cling film and set aside.
When your meat is extremely tender and beginning to fall off the bone, lift it out of the sauce and put to one side to cool. Simmer the sauce for a further 15 minutes to thicken. Once the meat has cooled, cut it into large chunks and throw out any globby bits you don’t like the look of. Scoop the marrow from the centre of the bones and add to the sauce. Take the sauce off the heat, throw away the orange peel, stir in the meat and parsley, taste and season again if necessary.
Fill an ovenproof dish with the mixture. Roll out the pastry so it is large enough cover the pie. Brush the edges of the dish with beaten egg and cover with the pastry lid. Brush all over the top of the pastry with the egg, press the edge of the pastry down with your thumb or the tines of a fork. Trim any excess pastry hanging over the edge using a sharp knife. Cut two holes in the top to let steam escape, place in the oven and bake for 20 minutes.
I like to serve this pie with fried baby courgettes, or young beetroot leaves.
William Leigh
This pie is served at my brother Tom’s fantastic pub. While I was living in Australia he called me up and in a very excited voice said, “Soph, I’ve bought a pub and named it after you.” “Thanks, that’s so sweet of you,” I replied. He giggled, “Yes. It’s called The Cow.”
SERVES 6
4 slices of beef shin 2.5cm (1in) thick (see tip)
2 tbsp vegetable oil
sea salt and a fully charged pepper mill
4½ or 5 large brown onions, finely sliced into half moons (you want more than you think)
2–3 cloves garlic, finely sliced
2 handfuls button mushrooms, halved and quartered, or 12 shucked oysters (see tip)
1 monstrous bunch of herbs, including thyme, bay leaves, rosemary, sage, parsley stalks and tarragon (only a touch of rosemary and sage as they are so vicious)
375g (13oz) good-quality butter puff pastry for 1 large pie, or 500g (1lb) for 6 individual pies
1 egg yolk, whisked with 1 tbsp milk
This recipe is a corruption of the mighty “Grillade des marinières du Rhône” as taught to me by the highly estimable chef Jeremy Lee. The oysters are an addition that would not have been out of place in a Victorian kitchen. They were often used to add body to meat dishes, as they were far cheaper than they are today. The mushrooms have more modern connotations: the memory of Pukka pies from the chippy after a beery night lives strong in me!
So, to begin with, pop a large pan on the stove over a high heat. It should be big enough to hold all the beef in one layer. Now turn to the beef; rub this lightly with oil and season well with