I'm a huge fan of Heston Blumenthal. I watched the episode where he showed British Airways what was needed to recreate their Shepherd's Pie for high altitude passengers. It was the 'fifth' flavour we taste. Umami. If you ever feel a meat dish need a little bit of 'something' to enhance the flavour, this is what you need. Umami paste. I just made some  thanks to the generous sharing of the recipe by Tenina. (tenina.com/2011/08/umami-paste/)  Her recipe is for a  Thermomix  but I didn't have one so adapted it for my 'Bullet' although I think any blender will work as well. My paste is creamier but has set beautifully and tastes amazing.

Umami Paste

300g Roma tomatoes
90g Parmesan cheese
80g toasted walnuts
1 teaspoon Dulse flakes - available from health food shops
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
3 anchovies

Core the tomatoes and blitz in the blender attachment of the Bullet. Transfer the puree to a glass or plastic jug, cover with plastic wrap, pierced a few times, and cook  in the microwave for 5 minutes. Strain through a piece of chux placed in a sieve. Retain the juice.

(Dehydrate the tomato solids in a warm oven, or like I did, on baking paper in a small pan on my wood fire. Blitz until finely milled and use in soups and stews.)

Toast walnuts in a pan over a low heat. Blitz in three lots in the Bullet using one of the cups. Blitzs the parmesan in three lots as well. This gives a fine milled product.

Add all ingrediets together in a large Bullet cup or blender attachment and blend for 30 seconds to combine.
Pour into sterilised jars and keep in the refrigerator.

I found these cute little jars very cheaply in Red Dot and filled three of them with the mixture. I added a tablespoon of the mix to my normal Shepherds Pie recipe and it tastes amazing.