Shepherd’s Pie – A Lovely Mess

In case you are searching for an extremely comforting meal, look no additional than this shepherd’s pie recipe. It’s straightforward, filling, filled with taste, and I really like a meal that makes nice leftovers as nicely. 🙂

Shepherd’s pie is a conventional Irish recipe that’s normally made with floor lamb. Technically, since I’m utilizing floor beef, this may be known as cottage pie as a substitute. Both approach, this casserole-style meal has a juicy, meat and vegetable base that tastes prefer it nearly has gravy and topped with tacky mashed potatoes. In the event you like a meat and potato dinner, you might be gonna love this recipe!

Associated: Subsequent up, attempt our meatloaf recipe, stuffed peppers or goulash.

Elements

• Yellow onion
• Garlic
• Olive oil
• Floor beef
• Worcestershire sauce
• Tomato paste
• All-purpose flour
• Beef broth
• Frozen peas and carrots combine
• Salt
• Black pepper
• Potatoes
• Unsalted butter
• Complete milk or half and half cream
• Garlic powder
• Onion powder
• Parmesan cheese
• Inexperienced onions, elective

I like Yukon gold potatoes for this recipe, however different potatoes like russet or pink work nicely too.

Methods to make Shepherd’s Pie

Finely chop the onion and mince the garlic.

Boil a medium to massive pot of water and add salt. Peel the potatoes and minimize into small cubes. Boil for about 10 minutes, till you possibly can simply mash a bit with a spoon or fork.

Warmth the oil over medium warmth in a big saucepan. Cook dinner the aromatics for 2-3 minutes, till the onions start to melt. Add within the floor beef and Worcestershire sauce. Break up the meat into small items because it cooks. Brown the meat so no pink stays, one other 3-5 minutes. Then add within the peas and carrots (they are often frozen) and season every little thing with a little bit salt and pepper.

Now stir within the tomato paste and beef broth. Sprinkle the flour over every little thing and stir to include. Cook dinner one other couple of minutes. The combination ought to flip right into a sauce that thickens not fairly as a lot as a gravy however thicker than broth. Take away from warmth.

Drain the water from the potatoes, maintaining the potatoes within the pot. Add the butter, milk or cream, garlic powder, onion powder, and Parmesan cheese. Mash till almost no lumps stay, as we’re searching for creamy mashed potatoes. If wanted, add extra milk or cream if the mashed potatoes appear too thick. They need to be straightforward to unfold with a spoon.

In an 8×8 sq. casserole dish, add the meat combination. Layer on the potatoes and unfold in order that they cowl every little thing to the perimeters of the pan. Bake within the oven at 400°F for 25 minutes. The sides of the potatoes ought to flip a golden brown and you may even see a number of the meat gravy bubble up. High with chopped inexperienced onions if utilizing and serve heat.

Suggestions and Notes

• Use floor lamb for conventional Shepherd’s Pie. I’ve used floor beef right here, which is technically cottage pie. You can additionally use floor turkey or floor hen for a lighter model of this meal. In the event you do, I’d swap the meat broth for hen inventory or hen broth.
• You’ll be able to add 1/4 to 1/2 cup frozen corn to this meat combination for those who like.
• To make this simpler, you possibly can high with tater tots as a substitute of the creamy mashed potatoes. Though not conventional, it’s nonetheless scrumptious and makes it a little bit extra kid-friendly.
• You’ll be able to swap the inexperienced onions or chives for different recent herbs you may desire like thyme, rosemary or parsley.
• I exploit an 8×8 sq. baking dish for this recipe, however 9×9 will work simply fantastic too. You can additionally use a spherical or oval baking dish. I like ceramic or glass greatest for casserole-style meals, however in a pinch a metallic pan will work simply fantastic too. This isn’t a brilliant fussy recipe!
• If you wish to make this meal forward of time, observe the directions as much as the purpose of baking. As an alternative, cowl the dish in plastic wrap and retailer it within the fridge for as much as 48 hours. When prepared, bake for a further 5 minutes (so half-hour whole) if baking straight out of the fridge (eradicating plastic wrap, in fact).
• Retailer any leftovers in an hermetic container within the fridge for no less than 3 days. You’ll be able to simply rewarm this within the microwave.

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