Jun. 28, 2021
Cooking In Season
Salad Meals to Beat the Heat
In this recipe round up, I have gathered my best and most delicious summer salad meal recipes in one post, for days when it’s too hot to cook!
February 25, 2014
Shepherd’s Pie
My favourite cold-weather meal, Shepherd’s Pie is delicious, comforting, and satisfying like no other casserole.
Since the day I first tried the amazing mutton sold at my local farm market, I have been using any excuse I can to cook with it. Moroccan tagine, curried mutton stew, spiced meatballs. . . sigh of bliss. But nothing has satisfied me more than the tried-and-true comforting taste of Shepherd’s Pie.
My favourite cold-weather meal, Shepherd’s Pie is delicious, comforting, and satisfying like no other casserole.
I have made Shepherd’s Pie at least six times since November, and each time I love it a little bit more. It’s so very comforting in a delicious, stick-to-your-ribs kind of way. But I can tell that I need to ease up on the frequency now, because my younger son (the barometer of taste in our household) has recently declared Shepherd’s Pie “bad”. This, after months of eating huge bowls of it with gusto.
But I’ve learned over the years that “bad” in reference to food means he’s tired of eating it, not that he doesn’t like it. Now I’m trying to see if I can last for four weeks without making Shepherd’s Pie again! It’s way harder than I thought.
In the meantime, I am hoping to live vicariously through my blog and my readers. Make this when you have a chance and let me know how it tastes. Do you like Shepherd’s Pie? Do you prefer it with lamb or with beef?
Shepherd’s Pie
My favourite cold-weather meal, Shepherd’s Pie is delicious, comforting, and satisfying like no other casserole. I make this recipe in two pie dishes and bake one right away, refrigerating the second for an easy dinner another day.
Ingredients
Filling
907 g (2 lbs) ground lamb, beef, OR a mixture
1 medium onion, diced fine
1 small leek, sliced
2 medium carrots or parsnips, peeled and diced
1 stalk celery, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
5 ml (1 tsp) minced fresh thyme (OR 1/2 tsp dried)
5 ml (1 tsp) minced fresh rosemary or savoury (OR 1/2 tsp dried)
15 ml (1 Tb) tomato paste
30 to 60 ml (2 to 4 Tb) flour (OR rice flour, for a GF version)
375 to 500 ml (1-1/2 to 2 cups) chicken broth
2.5 ml (1/2 tsp) salt
2.5 ml (1/2 tsp) pepper
2.5 ml (1/2 tsp) worcestershire sauce (OPTIONAL)
5 ml (1 tsp) soy sauce
1/2 bunch winter greens (kale, chard, beet greens, collards), stems removed and finely shredded
250 ml (1 cup) frozen peas, thawed
1/2 bunch parsley, minced (OPTIONAL)
Note ~ You can make this with ground lamb, ground beef, or a mixture. This is a great vehicle for bits of extra veg you have lying in your crisper - parsnips, extra leek, chopped green beans, etc
Mashed Potatoes
1.4 kg (3 lbs) Russet or Yukon Gold potatoes (about 6 Russets or 8 – 10 Yukons), peeled and cut into eighths
salt to taste
85 g (6 Tb) butter
80 ml (1/3 cup) milk OR potato-cooking water
paprika for garnish
Instructions
Filling
- Preheat oven to 400 F. Have all ingredients chopped and ready before you start.
- Heat a Dutch oven or large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the lamb or beef and cook, stirring to break up the meat with a wooden spoon, until the meat is no longer pink and the fat has rendered out, about 5 to 6 minutes. Transfer the meat to a sieve suspended over a large bowl. You want to drain the excess fat and liquid off the meat.
- After a couple of minutes, the fat will have risen to the top of the reserved meat juices. Skim this fat into a separate small bowl or ramekin, keeping both the fat and the juice.
- Scoop out 3 to 4 tablespoons of the lamb or beef fat and return it to the Dutch oven or saucepan that you were using to cook the meat. If you do not have that much, top it up with some cooking oil, olive oil, or butter. Return the pan to medium heat and heat until the fat is shimmering.
- Add the onion and saute until limp and translucent, about 4 minutes. Add the carrot and celery (and leek, if using) and saute about 7 minutes more, until vegetables are softened and lightly browned in spots.
- Stir in the garlic and saute until fragrant, about 15 seconds. Add the chopped herbs and the tomato paste, sauteing for 20 to 30 seconds more.
- Stir in the all-purpose flour (use the larger amount if you want a thicker sauce), then add the chicken or lamb broth, along with any reserved juices from cooking the meat. Stir and scrape up any browned bits, increase the heat to high, and bring mixture to a boil, stirring constantly, and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly, until sauce is thickened and smooth.
- Add the cooked mutton (lamb), the Worcestershire sauce, the soy sauce, the salt and pepper, and the shredded greens. Return to a boil, then immediately remove from heat and cover, to keep the heat in.
Mashed Potatoes
- *do this while also cooking the filling, so that they are done at the same time.
- Place the prepared potatoes in a pot with water to cover by 3 cm (~1 inch) and about 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Place over high heat and bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer gently about 10 to 15 minutes, until potatoes are easily pierced with a fork.
- Immediately drain the potatoes (reserving some of the cooking liquid, if you need the spuds to be dairy-free) and then return the potatoes to their pot, along with the butter and milk OR potato-cooking water. Mash until smooth and season with salt to taste.
Finish the Shepherd's Pie
- Stir the peas into the lamb/beef mixture. Taste mixture for seasoning. You may want more salt, soy sauce, pepper, etc. Divide the lamb mixture evenly between two 9-inch deep-dish pie pans (the glass ones are great for this).
- Now dollop 1/4 of the mashed potatoes around the outside of each pan and smooth it out, anchoring it to the edge of the pie pan, as shown in photos.
- Finally, divide the remaining mashed potatoes between the middles of the two pans, and working from the outer circle of potato, spread it to over the meat mixture evenly.
- Place in the oven and bake until the top is lightly browned, about 25 minutes (You can bake one pie and chill the other, saving the second to bake another day). Let baked Shepherd’s Pie cool for about 10 minutes before serving.
Where is Shepherds pie recipe? Cannot find it Heidi.Thanks,love your blog.pam
ooh, this is definitely on my list of deliciousness!
Hi Heidi: Shepherd’s pie is a favourite with my husband and my stepson and I am never disappointed when it is on the Sunday dinner menu. We usually make it with ground beef and earthy mushrooms. haven’t tried a version with lamb. Your recipe looks delicious. We’ll definitely give it a go, and if we can land mutton from Terra Nosa ourselves, all the better! Thanks for posting. You have got my mouth watering!
Heidi, your lamb Shepherds Pie sounds divine! Have you ever tried it with puff pastry instead of mashed spuds for a lighter version? I’m not sure I could get up from the table with a potato topping!!
I have never tried that, but I am sure that it would work very well!