Shepherd’s Pie
The history (Greatist.com) seems to be in bits and pieces containing peasants, Ireland, the Catholic church, and Sir Walter Raleigh. Oh, and beef and potatoes. Try putting those puzzle pieces together. So, instead of the on and on backstory, let’s dive into what we contemporaries know as a Shepherd’s Pie or Cottage Pie.
The fun thing about this meal is how versatile it is. I have added a jar of Harmacy’s Hot Sauce for flavor and heat just to change things up a bit.. Leave out the tomato paste if you’d like; it will still taste great. Leave out the peas if you’re not a fan. Have any favorite spice blends? Add those instead of the rosemary and thyme. Add more stock to have a more “gravy” consistency, about 2 – 2 ½ cups instead of 1 ½ cups of beef stock. You can adjust as your taste buds delight.
When we were eating low carb, I made a cauliflower mash in place of the potatoes. With plenty of salt and butter, it was a decent replacement. But, I do love the buttery mashed potatoes.
Since there is quite a bit of prep work and stovetop cooking, you don’t have to preheat the oven as soon as you begin. Depending on how long it takes your oven to heat, you could preheat the oven when you begin to boil the potatoes. At least, that might be a good guideline for you for your first try at this recipe.
Some other vegetables that you could add to the Shepherd’s Pie are diced zucchini or squash, bite-size green beans, diced parsnips or turnip, or even sweet potato.
Enjoy!
Shepherd's Pie
Ingredients
For the Meat Filling:
- 1 1/2 pounds ground beef
- 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1 small onion, diced
- 3 carrots, diced
- 2 teaspoons garlic, finely minced
- 3 ounces tomato paste
- 1/2 teaspoon dried crushed rosemary
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 2 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups beef stock, or beef bone broth, see Notes
- 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce, or to taste
- 1/2 cup frozen peas
- kosher salt, to taste
- freshly-cracked black pepper, to taste
For the Potato Topping:
- 3 - 4 Russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 2" - 3" chunks
- water, to cover potatoes
- kosher salt
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, or to taste
- freshly-cracked black pepper, to taste
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan
Instructions
- Brown the ground beef in a large skillet or medium Dutch oven over medium heat until no pink remains. Drain well and set aside.
- In the same skillet, heat the butter and oil over medium heat. Once the butter is melted, add the onion and carrots. Add a pinch of salt and pepper. Cook until beginning to soften, approximately 7 to 10 minutes. (Some caramelizing is fine and good if the veggies are beginning to brown.)
- Add the garlic and stir for about 30 seconds.
- Add the tomato paste, rosemary, thyme, and paprika to the vegetables and stir for about 1 to 2 minutes. Turn the heat down if the tomato paste is darkening too much on the bottom of the skillet.
- Add the beef back to the skillet and stir.
- Sprinkle the flour over the mixture and stir until no dry flour is seen, about 2 minutes. Add the stock, Worcestershire sauce, and peas. Stir to combine.
- Bring the beef mixture to a gentle boil and allow the “gravy” to thicken.
- Taste for salt and pepper, and adjust as preferred. Turn off the heat, place a lid slightly jar to keep the beef filling warm while you cook the potatoes.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9" baking dish.
- Bring a pot of salted water up to a boil. Add the potatoes to the boiling water and cook until they are easily pierced with a fork. Use a large slotted spoon or strainer spider to remove the potatoes from the pot to a mixer bowl. Reserve 1/2 cup of the cooking water.
- Add the butter, salt and pepper to taste, to the potatoes. Mash the potatoes until no large chunks remain, or to the desired consistency. Add any of the reserved cooking water to the potatoes if a thinner consistency is desired. (Be mindful that adding any cooking water will be adding salt to the mashed potatoes.)
- Pour the beef-vegetable mixture into the greased baking dish, smoothing the top.
- Dollop the potatoes on top and smooth them across the top. (At this point you can create designs with a spoon or fork. It’s not necessary but creates a pretty presentation.)
- Evenly sprinkle the Parmesan on top and bake for 25 minutes, or until the mixture is bubbly and hot. You can broil the Shepherd’s Pie if you’d like the potatoes a little browned, but keep watch that you do not burn the top.
- Remove from the oven and serve warm.
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