The velveeta and the spam variations had me uncontrollably laughing with tears! And now I'm hungry for shephard-like pie (and grilled spam and cheese...)

Made a comment a couple of days ago agreeing with Neil! But made it for the first time yesterday and followed his instructions to the T. Including using ground lamb. Husband loved it, daughter REALLY loved it and my son was in line with his sister. First time making shepherds pie and your recipe was awesome! Can't wait to make it for my parents. I'm sure that they will enjoy it! :)

All I'm gonna say is top with shredded sharp cheddar. It's great.

I have never had this kind of pie before. After reading all of this I can't wait to try it. Probably without the cheese and with beef since we are beef farmers :) Interesting and fun!

Enjoyable read. Had me in stitches over a recipe.

Wow, there are a lot of really uptight people on here! I had a good time reading your recipe...even if I don't know what "bisto" is! LOL. I don't find this rude at all. Some people just have no sense of humor. You are right, we Americans DO put cheese on absolutely everything! Ha! Thanks for your recipe. It is always nice to find an authentic recipe!

Yes I am a Brit! (Newcastle upon Tyne) with lots of Berkshire later in life. Recipe is great. Add a little cheese to the potatoes... It's better than the original despite the NO CHEESE rule...

What a crack up! I'm an American married to a Brit-one of the original rock-n-roll British invasion musicians of the 60's, to be exact. He makes a great Shepards Pie (with lamb). However, to appease my California tastebuds, he adds some chopped jalapeno and garlic - revs it up folks! The best of both worlds. We tease each other all the time about cultural differences-but I can tell you first hand, the Brits take themselves less seriously and I love their humor.

Really? I can't believe you people are serious. Neil would die if he tasted my version.. lol

Yeah, mexican food puts meat and cheese together all the time so maybe its not a US obsession to add cheese to anything that moves. But nice stereotype.

For all the griping about the "to do" over a recipe - we all keep posting don't we? I grew up with my mum calling it Shepherd's Pie and Cottage Pie interchangeably and she never made it with minced lamb - I'm sure that it wasn't at the local supermarket. Mum's a Kiwi and Dad's a Brit and "cottage pie" was a staple. I'm excited to see Neil's "authentic" recipe, when I get adventurous and find minced lamb - I'll give it a try.

Here's an idea y'all - if you like the recipe - make it!
If you don't like the recipe or the poster...don't!
I was ROFLMAO about the Velveeta and Spam comments though. I have to admit, every time I make "cottage pie" it's always a little different, isn't that the point of a casserole? My understanding is that "authentically" it was made from the Sunday roast - aren't we getting a little judgmental about a poor little casserole from leftovers?

Neil, Thanks for givng us a more traditional and most accurate version of the recipe, however the statement about Americans and cheese was not necessary. Other than that no harm taken, and I am now off to the groccery store to buy the ingredients for a true sheppards pie (Brittish style)Thanks.

I always wonder when someone takes offense at an e-mail, how on earth they can hear 'tone of voice', which is a large part of understanding what someone is saying, and how. For a simple recipe it surely got a lot of comment, 190 and counting? Thanks for several minutes of laughs! (I am going home to make cottage pie with left-over pot roast ...)

Neil is awesome. I could actually hear his British accent as I read the recipe. Brilliant!

I'm glad for the clarification... OF COURSE shepherds pie is made with lamb. It makes sense. I'm glad to know the authentic version. I'll even call my beef version cottage pie from now on.

I loved all the comments. I've made Sheppard's Pie (traditional with lamb) and variations with beef for years. Recently, I prepared the meat and, at the last minute, found I had no potatoes (not even a box of instant).

So, I topped it off with a bag of Tater Tots. Now, how's that for an American variation? Incidentally, it was delicious. Maybe I should call it Sheppard's Tater Tot Pie.