COMFORT food is what is needed at this time of year. Tomorrow is Blue Monday, supposedly the most depressing day of the year, when all the post-Christmas and New Year blues come together: low mood, low funds, cold weather and dreich days. This is when all the New Year resolutions get forgotten as we console ourselves with treats.

But treats don’t have to be all bad. A homemade, comforting soup, a meat stew fish pie, baked potatoes or cheesy pasta – all of these can be made with a host of nutritious, seasonal root vegetables, beans and pulses – and perhaps a dumpling or two. Any stray tomatoes or herbs can be added or used to garnish the finished dish just as a few rashers of bacon lurking in the fridge with an odd onion, or leek, can be used for extra panache.

Anything with mashed potatoes hits the spot for me: creamy, but never over-beaten or sloppy, peppery for extra heat and with a good pinch of sea salt to bring out the flavour. Delicious. Sauté a finely chopped onion in some melted butter until soft and sizzling in the pan. Mix with a tablespoonful of medium oatmeal and bind it all together. Stir this into your mashed potatoes and you have my favourite dish of all time – Skirlie Mash. (I like to believe I invented this idea, but some may argue otherwise! It certainly featured on my menus at The Three Chimneys very unashamedly, not so many years ago.)

Cooking a family meal is an enjoyable experience and definitely to be recommended for lifting the spirits on a blue day. Washing, peeling, chopping and stirring are not stressful chores and are very earthy and satisfying, particularly in a warm kitchen with music in the background or good company to chat with as you prepare the dish. When did you last attempt to put together a real shepherd’s pie? It may be quicker to heat a ready-made version in the microwave and serve as soon as you step inside the door, but I can guarantee it will never taste as comforting as one you make yourself from scratch, with no artificial flavourings and full of goodness.

Most families have their preferred version of this traditional dish. Originally, it was made with minced lamb on a Monday, using-up the leftover meat from the joint of slow-cooked mutton served on Sunday. The link with lamb and the shepherd is obvious, but it is more usual to make this dish with minced beef. In fact, it is only a slightly posher version of mince and tatties and if you don’t want to put the two together in a pie dish, then serve it as exactly that, for an equally comforting family meal. Sticklers for detail will call a pie made with beef mince, cottage pie, but I am sticking with the shepherd's.

This is because, as a wee girl, pre-school, I would wander in and out of the neighbours’ kitchens having a chat with whoever was at home. The last house in the street was home to the Misses Jack and their brother, the shepherd at the local farm in Peebles. The two neatly aproned sisters kept house for him scrupulously. I loved watching them go about their chores as they prepared their brother’s lunch and placed it punctually upon the scrubbed kitchen table, laid just for him, as soon as he walked inside the back door. Sitting on the back steps, he untied his huge tackety boots, slowly and methodically, before removing his tweed cap and walking over the linoleum floor in his thick, woollen stocking feet, to take his seat. Set before him was his shepherd’s pie, bubbling brown and slightly crispy on top in an enamel pie dish. I watched in wonder while he devoured the whole meal, silently, without a word, like a giant with huge leathery brown hands who had just descended from a faraway hill. For years, I truly believed that this was why this dish was called shepherd’s pie.

My recipe can be adapted to suit whatever root vegetables you have. I often add a slice of turnip, for example. I have added parsnips to the mash for additional flavour, but this is not essential. Sometimes I like to add a chopped leek, softened in melted butter in a frying pan and added to the mash. One culinary rule is to avoid putting together the pie when both the mince and the mash are very hot. Cool both before putting together and finish the dish in a hot oven, to heat thoroughly. Buy the best quality beef mince you can, for extra taste and if you prefer to give this recipe a go using minced lamb, do so, and enjoy. It is not an expensive supper dish to make and a little goes a long way – especially when you need a little comfort.

Shepherd’s pie

(Serves 4)

1kg potatoes, weighed when washed and peeled (choose a floury variety such as Maris Piper)

500g parsnips, weighed when washed and peeled

500g good quality Scotch minced beef or lamb

1 tbsp Scottish rapeseed oil

2 medium carrots

2 medium celery sticks

1 medium leek

1 large or 2 medium onions

1 beef or lamb stock cube made up in a jug with 400ml boiling water

1 rounded tbsp plain white flour

2 dsp tomato purée

2 tsp dried mixed herbs, or 2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley and perhaps thyme if available

1 large bay leaf

Freshly ground sea salt and black pepper for seasoning, plus cooking salt for boiling the potatoes

Method for the mash

1. Wash, peel and chop potatoes into roughly even-sized pieces. A large potato should be cut into eight chunks, a smaller potato should be four chunks.

2. Place the potatoes in a saucepan and cover with cold water to which you have added one teaspoon of cooking salt. Bring to the boil, cover with a lid and turn heat down to a simmer.

3. After five minutes, add the peeled parsnips, which should be cut into pieces approximately the same size as the potatoes. Return the water to boiling point, cover with the lid once more and leave to simmer for up to 10 more minutes until soft and ready to mash (test using a fork, skewer, or the point of a sharp knife). Strain through a colander and leave to drain and steam dry sitting over the saucepan in a warm place.

4. Turn the cooked potatoes and parsnips in the empty saucepan. Add 25g Scottish butter and mash together well. Finally, beat the mash with a wooden spoon to remove obvious lumps and check for seasoning. You may wish to add some more freshly ground sea salt and some ground black pepper. Instead of salt, you could add some seaweed flakes for extra nourishment. If you wish to add skirlie, or leeks, as an alternative, do so now. Leave the mash aside to cool while the mince is cooking.

Method for the mince

1. Prepare the carrots, celery, onions and leek, plus any other vegetables, such as turnip. The vegetables should be washed, peeled and chopped small in even-sized pieces.

2. Heat the oil in a good-sized saucepan, which has a close-fitting lid and a thick base if possible. Add the mince and brown in the hot oil, mixing with a wooden spoon to be sure it is thoroughly browed all over.

3. Sieve the flour over the mince and mix together well. Add the tomato purée and stir again. Season with ground sea salt and black pepper and mix again.

4. Add the prepared vegetables, freshly chopped herbs and bay leaf. Stir together well.

5. Pour over the prepared stock and mix again.

6. Bring to boiling point, cover with the lid and turn down to simmer slowly for 30 minutes, until the vegetables are soft. Turn off the heat and set aside to cool a little.

7. Light the oven, to 190°C, Gas Mark 5. Place a flat baking tray on a centre shelf.

8. Add the mince to the pie dish. Remove the bay leaf. Spoon the cooled mash over the top of the mince evenly. Make a pattern with the back of a fork over the surface of the mash. Alternatively, place the mash into a piping bag and pipe it evenly over the surface of the pie to form a swirly pattern.

9. Place the pie dish on the baking tray in the oven and heat thoroughly until the mash is turning brown on the surface and the gravy is bubbling up from underneath. This will take around 20-25 minutes. Serve hot with green vegetables. Some finely shredded Savoy cabbage or curly kale would be perfect at this time of year, but some frozen peas from the store cupboard (freezer) are also an ideal accompaniment.

Shirley Spear is owner of The Three Chimneys and The House Over-By on the Isle of Skye, and chairwoman of the Scottish Food Commission, which is helping to build Scotland into a Good Food Nation