Haha!!! I guess I just bastardized the heck out of my sp recipe, because I added a little ground rosemary, fresh ground fennel seed, fresh thyme, Sauted onions and mushrooms, put left over peas and corn from the garden in the middle, and mashed some of my heirloom Peruvian purple potatoes (out of garden also) for the top. Damn good! Apparently I made cottage pie because it's local beef. I just love fennel with beef. I Learn something new every day! Thanks for the distinction.

Wow, can everyone calm down. Who cares if he makes a remark about Americans love for cheese, its true we love cheese so much we put it in spray cans. Oh and last I checked we have the first amendment freedom of speech, look it up (or google it). Sincerely, John the American ...

To Clara and all the others who think their way is better. I think most of you are Americans who have to change everything. Neil's recipe is terrific and authentic every time I serve it my guests rave about it. I am a Greek American and a very good cook -- when I cook American I stay true and when I cook ethnic I also maintain the integrity of the culture. Carry on Neil.

Thanks for the recipe Neil. I will follow it exactly except I being the American I am will top it with CHEESE!

I've always thought that shepherd's pie was made with left-over lamb from the Sunday roast - minced, combined with a few spices, thickened with Bisto/oxo gravy; topped with mashed potato & popped under the broiler to heat and brown the potato. Same idea to use left-over beef roast but evidently I've been wrong for 50 years! - ex-Pat

I am American and I don't agree about us putting cheese on everything. For the gentelman that said "look at american cheese, it's not even real" what in the world are you talking about? Do you not know that many american cheeses are made in Wisconsin and California? Anyway, I lived in England for 4 years and loved true shepherds pie with lamb, but here in the states lamb is VERY expensive and not as easy to get as beef is, so many make this dish with beef and call it shepherds pie. No matter the name or type of meat a cook uses, if the dish is properly cooked it's a great meal!

Over a recipe? Really! LMAO I just made the American version, with spicy sausage and ground beef. I left out the carrots and celery, because my husband thinks they stick to the wall too well!! Oh yes, and a sprinkle of cheese over the top, and Parmesan cheese in the mashed potatoes. My Italian version of your recipe. Thank you for submitting the "proper" version though. :D

He wasn't being rude when he said "if you know what that is". Until very recently it was impossible to find Bisto on the shelves of American supermarkets and even now it's only available at a select few. I would buy it when I visited England or Canada. Give the guy a break. Also, in my humble opinion, there is no place for cheese in either cottage or shepherds pie.

It's true that Shepherds Pie used to be made from minced lamb left over from the Sunday roast. However, lamb is so expensive now in the UK that many people can't afford a roasting joint so minced lamb (which is often a large proportion of Mutton) is generally used. However you wish to make your version of Shepherds Pie is up to you but it really isn't British if you are going to add cheese etc.

Neil, I apologize for you having submitted your recipe and getting it torn to shreds by many. This is your recipe and is how you make it. If someone wants to vary the recipe, then it becomes their recipe and has nothing to do with how delicious your recipe is or not. I am sure each person who has commented has made a recipe only to be told by someone else that it wasn't any good because "they changed it" to suite their tastes. How can anyone comment on trying a recipe that they have changed? Anyway, thank you for the delicious recipe as I am one of those Americans who travel and order Shepards Pie whenever available and I will be sure to make your recipe as is - including forming the potatoes in a basket like pattern.

Wow all this because a person wants want to share one of his native dishes really? When i want good authentic English, Mexican, German etc. I go were they go! This dish was wonderful thanks man.

Sandy, loved your comment, you are absolutely right, as a British exile now very much an American may I tell you that the British version of "ruffled panties" is "getting your knickers in a twist"

A perfectly good recipé, though in our family (in the UK) we tended to use coarsely ground left-over lamb, mutton or beef. (If you really want to go over the top, try braised lamb shanks). Everybody has their preferences, ours, which I strongly recommend, is to start by soaking a bunch of red lentils, draining them and putting them in the base of the dish. We also put in one or two whole black peppercorns.

Oh, I see nothing wrong with grating a little cheese on the potato.

The best Bisto is in granular form, far better than the powder form. You don't have to use Bisto, if you have some genuine gravy left over, of course. You may care to also use some Worcestershire sauce, and some meat-extract. I've even seen Marmite suggested, and, yes, it does work. (Veggiemite to the Australians). And I wouldn't scoff at Kitchen Bouquet.

I have many American friends and have benefitted from their excellent cooking, but sadly, the worst Shepherds Pie I have ever encountered was in the USA, in a hotel in Toledo. A rock-hard hamburger, swimming in tasteless gravy, and covered in soggy potato. I don't suppose the cook had ever seen a real Shepherd's Pie! Serves me right for not sticking to the local cuisine!

Really?? Come on, I read this recipe and was never offended! I went and got the ingredients out and started the pie. Read the comments out of boredom and I am amazed at people and their need to feel offended. Go back to your American Cheese sandwiches... really!

His comments were not rude. He is specific. The title clearly specifies brit, so he was clarifying the difference. A cooking site is not the place to come and air your insecurities and sob like a baby. Watch the food channel-- very specific, very regional, and yet no one is getting sensitive. Get over it. The great thing about this site is that any recipe is acceptable. Don't insult someone because their recipe isn't how YOU want! Get another recipe... Or better yet, go sob and be a cry baby on the bologna sandwich recipe page. Tell them they are insulting our intelligence!