The Best Shepherds pie EVER

Step 1: Put the lamb into the pan and flatten it into a disk across the entire surface. Turn the heat on high underneath. While it heats up and starts to cook, grate or finely chop the carrots and onion. When the lamb is brown on the bottom, stir in the carrots and onion with a wooden spoon, scraping the bottom and breaking up the meat as you go.

Step 2: Keep cooking and stirring until much of the water has evaporated, 5-10 min. When you notice the pan starting to dry out, reduce the heat to medium. When things start sticking to the bottom of the pan again, stir in the tomato paste and flour, and cook for another minute or two, until burning of the fond is imminent. Deglaze with the wine stirring up the bits on the bottom

Step 3: Stir in the Worcestershire, herbs and spices (except for salt), demi-glace, and enough water to cover. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook until reduced and quite thick, at least half an hour.

Step 4: Cover potatoes in water and boil them until very fork-tender. Drain. Put in the butter and let it melt in the heat of the potatoes. Mash the potatoes, stirring in enough milk to get a slightly looser texture than you'd normally want for mashed potatoes. Mix in the grated cheeses, roasted garlic, stir until smooth, then taste for seasoning and add as much salt as you want. Keep the mash warm until you're ready to put it on the pie. Start preheating 400ºF

Step 5: When the meat filling is reduced and thick, take it off the heat — the cooler it is when you top the pie, the better. Stir in the frozen peas (still frozen). Smooth out the surface of the meat filling, then drop on the potatoes in large dollops. Pull with the back of a spatula to spread the potatoes out toward the pan edges and get everything covered in an even, thin later. Use a fork to make some ridges in the surface that'll brown nicely.

Step 6: Bake the pie until the potatoes are puffy and the filling is bubbling, about 30 min. Let cool at least 20 minutes before scooping.