Shepherd’s Pie...

Some thirty odd years ago, I first had this very English dish in a country pub outside London and immediately fell in love with its simple, yet distinctive savory taste. Shepherd’s Pie, also called ‘cottage pie’, is comfort food at it’s finest. Flavorful ground meat is mixed with a simple blend of peas and carrots then topped with a creamy layer of buttery mashed potatoes. Once you’ve tasted the smooth texture and rich flavor of the potatoes whipped with butter you’ll want to start eating it straight out of bowl with a spoon. But for this recipe in particular, it’s worth waiting to experience the whole dish. Alone, ground meat and frozen vegetables may not seem like anything special. But when combined with the mashed potatoes into a Shepherd’s Pie, the result is the type of home cooked meal all of us wish was waiting for us at the end of a long day. I don’t know any one who doesn’t like shepherd’s pie and it makes a terrific impromptu dinner.


Shepherd’s Pie

Ingredients:
1 pound lean ground beef or lamb
1 onion, finely chopped
2 carrots, finely chopped
1 celery stalk, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
¼ cup of wine
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 bay leaves
salt and pepper
1 cup beef stock
1 cup English peas (can be frozen)
3 large potatoes
2½ tablespoons butter
½ cup milk
Salt & pepper to taste

Sauté the onions over a low heat in the olive oil until soft and translucent. Add the carrot, celery, garlic and sauté for five minutes. Turn up the heat and add the meat, breaking up the lumps and cooking until it has just lost the redness. Don’t over cook it at this point. Add the cup of wine, (white or red, whatever you have opened. If you don’t have any it’s not essential) and stir till it has evaporated the alcohol. Now put in the rest of the seasonings and pour in enough beef stock to only just cover the meat. Bring to a simmer, put on a lid and leave to cook at a simmer for 1-2 hours. The last 10 minutes, add the English peas.

The quantity of potatoes depends on how many you have to feed; you can have a thin layer of potato topping or a thick layer of potato. Peel the potatoes and boil them till soft. Then drain and mash them with the butter, milk and salt and pepper until they are soft, but not runny, mashed potatoes.



In a roasting dish or any ovenproof but not too shallow dish, put the cooked meat mixture in a thick layer, top with the mashed potatoes and smooth them out with a fork, so there are lines and swirls and peaks of potato that will brown nicely.

At this point, you can place in the refrigerator until needed. Just place the baking dish into a preheated oven set at 400 degree F for thirty minutes or until heated through and the top is browned and golden.

If you are planning on serving at the time you have assembled and the meat & potatoes have only just finished cooking and are still hot; you can just brown the top under the broiler and serve.

Serve with a tossed green salad.

Serves 6