It's been a little nippy in San Francisco recently, and I started craving one of my favorite comfort foods: shepherd's pie. Or cottage pie to you readers in Australia and the UK. This meat and vegetable pie with mashed potato crust is very humble and simple, but very economical, filling, and delicious.
Comfort Food: Shepherd's Pie
Some notes about the filling. It's more traditional for shepherd's pie in the US to have a beef filling whereas the British and Australians are more likely to use lamb. You could also try ground turkey for a lower fat alternative, or your favorite soy crumbles if you are a vegetarian. You could use fresh vegetables, but I prefer to use frozen vegetables as it saves me the chopping and peeling time, and since I already have the ground beef and the vegetables in my freezer, that means I don't have to go out and shop for anything. Since it's just me and my boyfriend, I divide this recipe in three batches; two go in the freezer in my favorite Pyrex storage containers, and one is cooked and eaten right away. This way we aren't eating leftovers all week, as this recipe is family-sized.
For a switch-up, try adding some boiled rutabaga to your mashed potatoes, it's yummy.
Shepherd's Pie
Ingredients:
1 1/2 pounds ground beef, lamb, or other protein of your choice
1 onion
2 1/2 cups chopped vegetables. I used Bird's Eye Ultimate Petite Mixed Vegetables, which is a mix of peas, corn, green beans, and carrots. Other good options are celery, mushrooms, parsnips, and pearl onions. I also added a can of mushroom stems & pieces.
6 russet potatoes
8 tbsp butter (1 stick)
1/2 cup beef broth (substitute vegetable broth if vegetarian)
1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
Salt & pepper to taste
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Peel and quarter the potatoes, then boil them in salted water. Dice the onion and saute it in 4 tbsp. of the butter in a large skillet. When onions are translucent, add the rest of the vegetables and the meat. Don't overcook - remember, this will be going in the oven. When the meat is no longer pink, add salt and pepper to taste, then the Worcestershire and the broth. Simmer uncovered for 10 minutes. If it dries out, add more broth.
By now the potatoes should be tender. Remove them from heat, drain, and mash them with the remaining butter and season with salt and pepper to taste.
Place the beef/vegetable mix on the bottom of a baking dish, and add mashed potatoes to the top. Don't smooth down the potatoes - give them an uneven texture so that the peaks brown during baking and give it a little crunch. Bake for 30 minutes, then turn on the broiler for 5 minutes before serving.
(Image: Kathryn Hill)
Tags
Casserole, Keeps Well, Easy, Make Ahead, comfort food, cottage pie, shepherd's pieRelated Links
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In the UK and Ireland it's Shepard's Pie if it contains lamb (often left overs from a Sunday roast) and Cottage Pie if beef is used.
view bridmw's profile
In Québécois, it's "Pâté chinois", or Chinese pie.
No idea why.
view lillies's profile
Mmm. I made a vegetarian version last week with carrots, onions, peas, mushrooms, broccoli and kale. It was delicious!
view k_darling's profile
Is adding cheese to the top NOT traditional? My Irish husband would be very disappointed if the cheese were left out... (Not that we go all traditional--I like to top mine with a mix of regular and sweet potatoes!)
view Brooklynnina's profile
The "pâté chinois" chinois of Québec is usually made with ground beef and the layer of vegetables is canned corn. And it may be unorthodox, but I like to add a bit of cheeese on top too. Now, I feel like making it.
view melodie1974's profile
I love shepard's pie! i made 2 batches last week and froze the leftovers. I cant wait to eat them. I followed the recipe from the Tea & Sympahty cookbook (the NYC Brit teashop). It was great, they add tomato juice to the meat (i used lamb) which made it saucy... perfection! Here's the recipe: http://337greenwich.blogspot.com/2009/09/i-britain-minced-lamb-shepards-pie.html
view 337Greenwich's profile
Just made shepherd's pie last week too. :D Great minds must be thinking alike. I put down my meat mixture, then a layer of grated cheddar before putting the potatoes on top. Yum.
view Fnnkybutt's profile
mmm... a favorite of mine! An Italian version with sweet or spicy Italian sausage and added oregano and garlic is yummy too!
view ShirahAngeline's profile
Love shepherd's pie. I like to fry a few strips of bacon and crumble them in the top of the filling before I lay the mashed taters, then sprinkle the top of the taters with some breadcrumbs (don't know why, I like the toast flavor along with the taters...)
Oh and I sometimes use chunks of chicken breast instead of beef or ground turkey. It's kind of like chicken pot shep's pie or something like that. I do prefer using fresh veggies to frozen (with the exception of peas) - I find frozen veggies have this strange taste and texture...
view summerinbrooklyn's profile
I really enjoy Michael Chiarello's recipe, available on the Food Network site. It's a little elaborate for a traditionally humble dish like Shepherd's Pie, but it's definitely a delicious spin.
I like to sprinkle the top with aged white cheddar near the end of cooking. It really makes it.
view SarahBerneche's profile
I would add red wine (whatever you have on hand) and a little tomato paste/puree to this recipe. Just adds a great depth of flavor to the beef. Also, sprinkling the top with parmesan...saw Gordon Ramsay make it with these variations on the F Word and I couldn't wait to try it out. Made it sooo much better.
view michpc's profile
bridmw took the words right out of my mouth! Same in Aus I believe - Shepherd's is lamb, Cottage is beef.
I have a recipe for "Shepherdess Pie", which has beef in for some reason (I guess the book was just looking for a cute name), but is good:
Fry an onion, add 1/2kilo / 1lb of minced/ground beef, fry til browned. Then add some chopped up rosemary to taste, a 400g/1lb tin of chopped tomatoes, a broken up beef OXO cube (only time I use them!) or similar beef-stock-flavour-depth-giver, season, and cook for a few minutes. Put it into an ovenproof casserole (or just do those first stages in something like a Le Creuset), top with mashed together potato and carrot, use a fork to ridge it all a bit so you get crispy bits and cook at about 180C/350F for 20-30mins, until the top is how you like it.
I also love doing a 'normal' cottage or shepherd's pie with extra veggies like peas in, and grated cheese on top. Yum.
view FoodieGreenie's profile
When I was growing up we had "Hamburger Pie" - likely a 50s version of "Shepherds Pie":
Sautee chopped onions. Add ground beef and brown. Mix in one can of Campbell's tomato soup. Pour into bottom of casserole dish. Top with layer of canned green beans and then a layer of mashed potatoes. Cover with grated cheddar cheese. Bake at 350° F until cheese melts (my mom did it until the cheese got a little browned on the edges - my favorite part).
My brother and I loved this dish, but realizing that the families that I nannied for would probably not appreciate a casserole made with Campbell's soup and canned vegetables, I made a slightly fresher version. I subbed either chopped tomatoes or tomato sauce and a bit of red wine and herbs (cooked down a bit for thickness) for the soup and used fresh green beans. It's now one of my husband's favorite winter dishes (even if he refers to it as "WT Pie"
view Hannala's profile
Shepherd's pie is one of my favorites! I make it at least a couple times a month in the winter.
I also love to make "Thanksgiving Shepherd's Pie," which was an improvisation that turned out to be a huge hit. Ground turkey (cooked with sage and rosemary) and veggies on the bottom, an optional layer of cornbread stuffing in the middle, and sweet potatoes on top -- served with cranberry sauce, of course. Yum!
view nineLA's profile
Brooklynnina, I am with you, where is the layer of cheese across the top??
view cliokitty's profile