Red Wine & Bacon Shepherd's Pie with Colcannon

I found this recipe in Masterchef Magazine in a section all about British Pub Fare.  Every recipe looked delicious, especially this one.  Being a cold, wet and windy winter in Adelaide I was dying to try it out. 

The acutal mince part of this pie is to die for.  It is so rich which I believe comes from the 4g of porcini mushrooms.  I loved it, especially the deep sexy colour it went.  I will use the mince recipe any time I'm making a shepherd's pie in the future.  The Colcannon was also fantastic and I loved the flavour of the cabbage through the creamy, buttery mash - but there was just far too much.  There is no need for 2kg of potato and cabbage for the topping.  Next time I make this, and there definitely will be a next time - I'll be halving, if not quartering, the amount of colcannon.

As usual, I had loads left over so I sent a serve to my favourite food critic Richard - here's what he said:

Wow, dish after dish never fails to impress. The onion, bacon, potato, everything was just right on the money. It was the perfect meal for a cold and wet winter’s day. Such a large serve lets me live it all again tomorrow. Thankyou, thankyou, thankyou.


4g packet dried porcini mushrooms, crumbled
1 tbs olive oil
4 rashers rindless bacon, finely chopped
2 onions, finely chopped
2 carrots, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
700g minced lamb
2 tbs plain flour
400g can Italian chopped tomatoes
2 tbs tomato paste
250ml (1 cup) red wine
2 tbs Worcestershire sauce

Colcannon

100g butter, chopped
500g (about 1/2 small) savoy
cabbage, cored, cut into 1cm pieces
3 spring onions, trimmed, thinly sliced
1.4kg sebago potatoes, peeled
250ml (1 cup) pouring cream
50g grated parmesan

Soak mushrooms in 125ml (1/2 cup) hot water, then drain. Heat oil in a large casserole over medium heat. Add bacon and stir for 5 minutes or until starting to brown. Add onions, carrots and 1 1/2 tsp salt, and stir occasionally for 8 minutes or until carrots are almost soft. Add garlic and mushrooms, and stir for 1 minute or until fragrant. Add mince and break up with a wooden spoon for 3 minutes or until browned. Stir in flour, tomatoes, tomato paste, wine and Worcestershire sauce. Cover partially with a lid and simmer gently over low–medium heat, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes or until sauce is thick. Season with pepper.


Meanwhile, to make colcannon, heat 40g butter in a frying pan over medium heat. Add cabbage and onions, and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until cabbage is soft. Season with salt and pepper, and set aside.

Place potatoes in a large saucepan of cold water, then boil for 35 minutes or until tender. Drain. Add remaining butter, cream and parmesan to the pan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Using a potato ricer, press the potatoes into the pan. (Alternatively, mash potatoes using a potato masher.) Stir in cabbage mixture until combined. Season colcannon with salt and pepper.

Preheat oven to 200C. Spoon mince mixture into 6 x 500ml (2-cup) ovenproof dishes or a 3L (12-cup) ovenproof dish. Cover with colcannon and bake for 30 minutes or until the top is golden.

E.