Place a large frying pan over a medium high heat and add 1/3 of the olive oil. When hot, add the beef mince and cook until browned all over, making sure you break up any lumps. It is often to brown the mince in batches. When browned, transfer to a large dish for now.
1.5 kg beef, 3 tbsp olive oil
Reduce the heat to a medium and add the remaining olive oil to the same pan and add the carrots, onions and celery. Gently cook for about 20 minutes or until they have softened.
2 large onions, 3 large carrots, 2 sticks celery, 3 tbsp olive oil
Add the garlic, flour and tomato puree to the vegetables and stir well to combine.
Add the beef mince back to the pan along with the glass of wine. Cook for 3 minutes until the wine has reduced in volume before adding the beef stock, Worcestershire Sauce, bay and thyme.
850 ml beef stock, 125 ml red wine, 3 tbsp Worcestershire sauce, 2 leaves bay, 2 sprigs thyme
Stir everything together really well and taste. Season with salt and pepper.
Adjust the heat until the contents start to simmer and leave for 30 minutes stirring occasionally. If there is a lot of liquid left in the pan then turn the heat up a little. Otherwise leave the mince for another 10 minutes or so until the gravy is lovely and thick.
Tase and season with salt and pepper accordingly. Remove the thyme and bay leaves, they’ve done their bit.
salt, ground black pepper
Peel the potatoes and cut into chunks. Add the potatoes to a large pan and cover with cold water. Add a good pinch of salt and turn up the heat until the water boils. Once boiling reduce the heat until it simmers and cook until the potatoes can be pierced with a knife both in and out easily.
1.75 kg potatoes
Drain using a colander and then put the colander on top of the pan to steam for 5 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 220C/425 F/Gas Mark 7.
Return to the pan and add the butter, milk and about 80% of the grated cheese and finally season with salt and ground black pepper. Mash everything together until you have a lovely creamy mash.
25 g unsalted butter, 225 ml milk, 200 g cheddar, salt, ground black pepper
Transfer the beef mixture into a large oven proof dish and spoon over the mashed potato. You can use the back of a spoon to level and the prongs of a fork to make a pattern or just free hand it so it looks uneven.
Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top of the mash.
200 g cheddar
Place the dish on a baking tray on place in the oven for 25 minutes or until the potato and cheese are a lovely golden brown.