1 tbs vegetable oil

500 g venison, minced

1 medium onion, finely chopped

1 large carrot, peeled and diced into 1cm pieces

1 celeriac, peeled and diced into 1cm pieces

1 tbs plain flour

100 ml red wine (optional)

600 ml beef stock

1000 g potatoes (main crop) (floury like maris piper / king Edward work well), peeled and chopped

100 ml milk

50 g butter

black pepper, freshly ground

Stir in the onion, carrot and celeriac and cook for a further 10 mins until they start to brown. Sprinkle over the flour, stir and cook for 2 minutes then add the wine (if using) and bubble for a minute, then gradually stir in the stock.

Let it simmer gently over a medium heat for 20 minutes until you have a rich gravy, transfer to a suitably sized baking dish

To make the topping, tip the potatoes into a large saucepan of boiling slightly salted water then simmer for around 10 minutes until tender.

Drain then mash with the milk and butter, season with black pepper then top the venison mince evenly with the mash.

Bake the cottage pie in a pre-heated oven at 170C fan/gas 5 for 30 – 40 minutes or until top is golden.

[email protected], Instagram: cookforlifekent