Still the best.

  • 1 onion chopped
  • 1 large carrot chopped
  • 1 celery stick chopped
  • 1tbs oil

Sweat in oil until the onion is softening

  • 500gm steak mince

Cook with the vegetables, stirring until all pink has gone

  • 2 tbs tomato puree or half a tin of chopped tomatoes
  • 500ml beef stock (Oxo cube is fine)
  • Season well with salt and black pepper

Cover and simmer the beef mince while you peel enough potatoes to make a mash to cover. The quantity here is debatable. You want enough potato to cover the top of the dish, but you could bulk up with more to make the dish stretch further. Boil the potato and mash them when cooked, adding a bit of milk and butter if they are a bit dry.

Put the oven on to 180C and find a suitable pie dish. Ladle the beef and veg mix into the dish. If it has dried out, add more beef stock – it needs to look very sloppy. Carefully cover the dish with potato and fluff up the top so it goes crispy, and cook for 30  minutes. The ultimate comfort food, served with a green vegetable.