Shepherd’s pie. On a chilly evening, even the mention of it is enough to make grown men sigh. There’s no mystery to its enduring appeal, either. At its heart this warming dish of meat and mash is nursery food – soft, comforting and a bit nostalgic. It’s the cook’s equivalent of wrapping you in a blanket and plopping you in front of the fire.

Yet while shepherd’s pie has been around a very long time, people don’t ever seem to tire of it. There are a gazillion versions out there – just flick through a few cookbooks and you’ll see what I mean.

Beef instead of lamb? Sure (though strictly speaking it’s cottage pie if it’s beef). Cheese on top? Go ahead. Peas within? Take it or leave it. Really, then, the only ingredients that seem to remain the same across the board are potatoes, onions, minced meat, and, of course, Worcestershire sauce.

Recently I decided to experiment a bit not just with the sauce itself but also with the topping, all with the aim of coming up with a lighter version of this classic one-pot supper. I’ve spent a lot of time in the past year or so coming up with recipes that are far less heavy on carbs of all kinds, from real sugars to the vegetable starches found in such abundance in spuds.

I’m doing this mainly so I can slowly but surely substitute foods that are not so dense in nutrients with those that contain proportionally more vitamins and minerals – ounce for ounce as it were.

I figure that if night after night I’m going to cook, I might as well pack as much flavour and nutrition into the plate in front of me (and the family) as possible. This leaves me to enjoy all foods when I’m going out, simply because I am better behaved at home.

So this week’s recipe is what I call Shepherd’s Lighter Pie, and it certainly offers a few twists on the classic number. First up, there’s the sauce. It’s got a whole Asian vibe going on, with spices, ginger and chilli, which are great to add to anything. Then there’s the topping, which swaps spuds for a sweeter, less carby parsnip mash made rich by a small amount of cream and Parmesan. And I do mean small. It might sound as if it shouldn’t work, but it’s really, really moreish. To accompany it is a simple green salad with a sharp, herby dressing. This is the type of thing I make in one big batch, often doubling or trebling quantities so I can make a salad in minutes. Store bought dressings contain a lot of rubbish – just read the list of ingredients in comparison to mine.

So having a few favourite dressings up your sleeve is a worthwhile investment, especially as we’re heading into the warmer months.