There are about a
hundred reasons I should not be posting a recipe for Shepherd’s
Pie, the least of which is how many times I’ve badmouthed it
over the years. I’m sure if you’ve read this blog for any
amount of time, you’ve heard me lament.
I’m not sure who
I am and how I got here, but I’m doing a complete 180 today. I
can honestly say that I never, ever thought I’d be posting a
recipe for Shepherd’s Pie. For that reason alone, you know it
has to be good.
Thanks to Danielle, a
sweet reader who emailed me and nicely, but forcefully, told me I
needed to give Shepherd’s Pie another shot, I think I’ve
been converted. Danielle, like me, had been traumatized by the
instant mashed potatoes, canned green beans and microwaved hamburger
Shepherd’s Pies of her youth.
However, when a friend
of hers brought “the most delicious Shepherd’s Pie”
she had ever had, Danielle knew Shepherd’s Pie needed to be
part of her life (and mine, too).
So here’s the
deal, this version of Shepherd’s Pie might look like a bit
more work than using a lot of instant products, but I’m
going to go out on a limb here to say that homemade mashed potatoes
is the first step to reinventing this classic.
And unless you have an
egg allergy, don’t skip stirring in that egg yolk. It might
seem unneeded, but it lends such a delicious, rich creaminess to the
mashed potatoes that you’ll be wanting to eat Shepherd’s
Pie every night for the next decade.
And the meat filling.
Flavor. FLAVOR! Hearty and delicious, it’s fabulous and doesn’t
take that long to put together. I have a hard time finding ground
lamb in my neck of the woods, but I’ve made this several times
with different varieties of ground meat and it is stellar each time
(I’ve included some notes below the recipe title).
I wasn’t quite
sure what the fam would think about Shepherd’s Pie. My
kids had never eaten it before but they had heard me talk about how
they should never, ever make me Shepherd’s Pie on my birthday.
They knew the history, and my baggage had become their baggage.
Surprisingly, they
liked it. A lot. I knew it wasn’t just a matter of being
nice, like sometimes happens: “yeah, mom, this
experimental recipe filled with olives and eggplant is
greeeaaat except let’s not ever have it again ever, ok?”
when I spotted this on my 9-year old’s annual birthday survey:
For pure comfort food
at its best, this Shepherd’s Pie can’t be beat.
And on a completely
random side note, little Cam (2 1/2 years old) thinks it’s
called “Cow’s Pie” and we have been unable to
convince her otherwise. You can imagine how the boys still giggle
over that one, especially when she asks: “We having cow’s
pie for dinner, mom?”
Shepherd’s Pie Yield: Serve 8
The ingredient list
looks daunting but I promise this all comes together quickly. While
the potatoes are boiling, I start the meat and vegetable mixture.
Multi-tasking is your friend. You can use a variety of different
ground meats here. I've made this once with just ground turkey and
another time with a combination of ground beef and sausage. Yum!
Danielle, who sent me the recipe, uses ground lamb and sausage which
would also be delicious (ground lamb is a bit hard to find where I
live).
Ingredients
Potato Layer:
3 medium russet potatoes, peeled and chopped (about 4-5 cups)
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 - 1 cup milk
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
Salt and pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 egg yolk
Meat Filling:
2 - 2 1/2 pounds ground beef, turkey, lamb, or sausage (or a combination of any)
1 cup chopped onion
2 large carrots chopped small (about 1 cup)
2 cloves garlic, finely pressed
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
3 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 1/4 cups low-sodium beef or chicken broth
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme (or 1 teaspoon fresh)
1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary (or 1 teaspoon fresh)
1/2 cup frozen corn kernels
1/2 cup frozen peas
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
Directions
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
Lightly grease a 9X13-inch pan with cooking spray (I've also used a
slightly smaller ceramic casserole dish with good results, too, just
makes the layers slightly thicker).
Place the potatoes in a medium
saucepan and cover with 1-2 inches of water. Add a teaspoon of salt.
Bring to a boil and cook for 15 minutes or so (it will depend on how
large or small the potatoes are cut) until the potatoes are tender.
Drain the potatoes and return to
the pot. Mash the potatoes lightly. Add the butter, milk (start with
1/2 cup and add more if needed), Parmesan and cheddar cheeses, salt
and pepper to taste, and garlic powder. Mash together until smooth
and creamy. Stir in the egg yolk until combined.
For the meat and vegetable
mixture, in a large 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat, add
the ground meat, onion, carrots, garlic, salt and pepper. Cook,
breaking the meat into small pieces, until the meat is no longer
pink and the vegetables are starting to soften, 5-7 minutes or so.
Drain any excess grease from the mixture.
Sprinkle the flour over the meat
and cook over medium to medium-high heat for a minute or so,
stirring constantly. Stir in the tomato paste, broth, Worcestershire
sauce, oregano, thyme, and rosemary. Bring to a simmer and continue
to simmer gently for 10 minutes.
Stir in the corn and peas.
Pour the meat mixture into the
prepared pan. Spread the mashed potatoes over the top all the way to
the edges of the pan creating a seal over the meat mixture. Sprinkle
the 1 cup cheddar over the top of the potatoes.
Bake for 35-40 minutes until the
edges are golden and the casserole is bubbling. Let it rest out of
the oven for 10 minutes before serving.
Recipe Source: adapted from a recipe
sent to me by a reader, Danielle, who got it from a friend and
convinced me I needed to give Shepherd’s Pie another shot (I
reduced the butter and cheese a bit and changed up the spices and
meat based on what I had on hand) — it looks very similar to
this
recipe by Alton Brown; no wonder it’s good!
Melanie Gunnell is a food-loving, chocolate-obsessed mom who has a desperate need to share
her favorite tried-and-true recipes with the world. In a past life she graduated from Brigham
Young University with a degree in public health, but for the past ten years, stay-at-home
motherhood has been her job along with blogging-from-home for the past five.
She resides in the brilliantly cold tundra of Northern Minnesota with her husband and their brood
of five children: four boys and one tiny, bossy girl. Dark chocolate (particularly the act of
shoving chocolate chips in her mouth whilst hiding in the pantry) is her coping skill of choice for
both the never-ending winters and the never-ending wrestling matches in her front room.