Shepherd’s pie

Shepherd’s pie
This recipe leaves out the lard I would have used for frying the beef and also the Oxo stock cube. Tomato paste has been substituted for tomato ketchup in the original recipe.
Serves 2-3
Ingredients
500 g minced beef
1 onion, peeled and finely chopped (110g)
2 tbs tomato paste
1 carrot peeled and chopped
salt and pepper
Topping
600 g potatoes
25 g butter or margarine
2 tbs milk
salt and pepper
You can use dried potato for the topping to save time
1 tomato
Method
Place the minced beef and onion in a large saucepan and heat gently until the meat begins to brown. Stir in the tomato paste, salt and pepper.  Add a little water.
Cover with a lid and cook for a further 5 minutes.
Boil some water, peel the potatoes, cut into quarters and add carefully to the saucepan of boiling water. Cover with a lid and cook for 20 minutes until the potatoes are soft.
Drain the potatoes in a colander over the sink. Return the drained potatoes to the saucepan.
Add the butter or margarine and mash the potatoes with a masher until smooth.  Stir in the milk, salt and pepper.  You could use dried potato flakes instead of raw potatoes.
Put the minced beef mixture into the serving dish and cover with a layer of the mashed potatoes.
Smooth down the top with a knife or decorate using a fork to make stripes on the top.
Grill the pie to make the top golden brown. Cut the tomato into slices and use to decorate the top of the pie.