Shepherd's Pie

This is a recipe that I firmly believe should be left to the taste of the cook. Please use your own judgement on the amount of each ingredient unless specified.

Watch the video of Ramsay at the end of the post to see it done by the best.

Ingredients:

The Filling:

Olive Oil (2 Tbsp)

Ground Beef, Lamb or turkey (about 1.5 to 2 lbs)

1 Large Carrot (grated)

1 Large Onion (grated)

Minced Garlic (I used 6 cloves)

Fresh Rosemary

Fresh Thyme

Salt

Pepper

Worcestershire Sauce (several splashes)

2 or 3 TB Tomato Puree or Paste (no more than a small can)

Vegetable or Chicken Stock (1/4 cup)

Fresh or frozen green beans

(I grew up with my Mom putting green beans in her  shepherd's pie so I also make mine with green beans)

And because it was St. Patrick's day I threw in some frozen peas.

Here is a recipe for the Mashed potatoes, I don't measure when I am making my mashed potatoes so you can use this recipe or one that you already have...but the egg yolks help hold the mash together for the pie.  For making them green I added the broccoli to the water the last 3 minutes of the cooking time, then because they float at the top I pulled them out with a strainer and put the broccoli in my food processor. I processed the broccoli while I was straining the potatoes, then once the broccoli was minced really fine I then added the broccoli to the potatoes and finished making my mash.

The Mash:

Golden Potatoes (about 1.5 lbs)

Heavy Cream (or milk) ( 1/4 cup)

Butter (3 1/2 Tbsp)

Salt

Pepper

Egg Yolks (2)

Parmesan Cheese (1/4 cup, minimum I just grabbed two handfuls and put that in)

Prep Work:

Dice the garlic

Separate your herbs from the stems

Separate your Egg Yolks

Peel and Slice your potatoes into even pieces

Open your can of Tomato Paste

Cooking the Potatoes:

This part is easy as pie (no pun intended), just boil some water, throw some salt and your potatoes in, and set a timer for 10 to 15 minutes – start on your filling.  Upon the timer going off, take your potatoes out and strain the water off. Put potatoes back into the pan, or into a medium mixing bowl. Mash the potatoes with their ingredients from above and keep warm (your filling should be about done by this point)

Cooking the Filling:

Pour Olive Oil into a hot, rather large pan, then add meat. Stir meat for a few minutes so it’s nice and brown, and broken into very small pieces. Add your Rosemary, Thyme, and Garlic, then stir some more. Quickly add your Carrot, and Onion, stir a little longer. The idea at this point is to get everything to a minced consistency.

Add Worcestershire Sauce, stir, add Tomato Purée, stir, add stock, green beans and peas cook for 3 more minutes. Taste, and season to your liking.

Final Instructions:

Scoop your meat mixture into a deep casserole or other oven safe dish and then spoon the mash over the top. Spread the mash over the top of the mix with the bottom of the spoon and then sprinkle a generous portion of Parmesan cheese over the top. Poke the top with a fork several times to give it a peaked look and stick it in the oven at 400 degrees for 18-20 minutes to brown the potatoes and set the pie. Serve it up and watch people melt! Oh I love Shepherd Pie!

You can watch the video below to get a better idea of how it’s done.

Credits: All pictures taken by Me!