Shepherd's Pie
Ground lamb or beef simmered down with tomato paste, red wine and beef stock, then buried under riced Yukon Gold mash and a scatter of parmesan and panko that bakes into a genuine crust. One dish feeds ten, and it freezes baked or unbaked.
Ingredients
For the Filling
- 2 pounds ground lamb or ground beef about 85 percent lean
- kosher salt to taste
- freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 leek washed well, sliced into half moons
- 1 large yellow onion chopped
- 3 medium carrots chopped
- 2 celery stalks chopped
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 6 oz tomato paste
- 1 cup red wine full-bodied, such as Malbec
- 1 1/2 cups beef stock
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 6 sprigs fresh thyme tied with the bay leaf
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 cup frozen peas straight from the freezer
For the Mashed Potato Topping
- 4 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes peeled and quartered
- 2 cups whole milk warmed
- 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter room temperature or melted
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt plus extra for the boiling water
- freshly ground black pepper to taste
- freshly grated nutmeg a good pinch
For the Crumb Top
- 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 1/4 cup panko breadcrumbs
Equipment
- 9x13 inch casserole dish
- Large skillet
- Potato ricer
Instructions
Make the Mashed Potatoes
- First, cut large potatoes into quarters and smaller ones in half. Cover them with cold, well salted water, bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook for 20 to 30 minutes, until a knife slides through without resistance. Warm the milk in a small pot while they cook.
- Next, drain the potatoes and press them through a ricer back into the dry pot they cooked in, or mash them by hand. Add the butter, salt, pepper, nutmeg and most of the warm milk, holding a little back. Stop when the mash is stiff enough to hold a peak, which is drier than you would want it on a plate. Never use a food processor, which turns the starch gluey.
Build the Filling
- Then heat the oven to 400 degrees F. Brown the meat hard in a large pan over medium-high heat, breaking it into chunks as it colors, and season with salt and pepper. Lift it out with a slotted spoon and pour off the fat left behind.
- After that, lower the heat to medium and add the butter, olive oil, leek, onion, carrots and celery with a pinch of salt. Cook for 8 to 10 minutes, until softened, then add the garlic for a minute. Stir in the tomato paste and cook it for a full 2 minutes, until it darkens and smells sweet rather than raw.
- Pour in the wine and scrape up everything stuck to the pan. Simmer until it has reduced by about half, then return the meat with the beef stock, Worcestershire and the tied bundle of thyme and bay. Simmer for 12 to 15 minutes, until a spoon dragged across the pan leaves a track that fills in slowly. Taste for seasoning, pull out the herbs and stir in the frozen peas off the heat.
Top and Bake
- Spread the filling in a 9x13-inch baking dish. Drop the mashed potato on in separate spoonfuls all over the surface, then join them up with the back of a spoon rather than pushing one pile outward, which drags gravy up into the potato.
- Finally, fluff ridges across the top with a fork, scatter over the parmesan and panko, and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the ridges are golden and the gravy is bubbling at the edges of the dish. Slide it under the broiler for 2 to 3 minutes if the top is still pale, watching it constantly. Rest for 10 to 15 minutes before serving so the gravy sets.
Notes
Lamb or beef: lamb makes this a shepherds pie in the traditional sense, beef makes it cottage pie, and nothing else changes.
Doneness: the ridges should be properly golden and the gravy bubbling at the rim. Rest 10 to 15 minutes so the gravy sets.
Make ahead: assemble, cool, cover and refrigerate up to 2 days, then add 10 to 15 minutes in the oven. Hold the parmesan and panko back until it bakes.
Storage: 4 days covered in the fridge, reheated covered at 350 degrees F for about 25 minutes.
Freezing: unbaked and tightly wrapped, up to 3 months. Bake from frozen and covered at 375 degrees F for 75 minutes, then 20 more uncovered. Baked leftovers freeze for 3 months too.
Substitutions: lentils and mushrooms with vegetable stock in place of the meat, half sweet potato in the mash, gluten-free crackers in place of panko.
Nutrition values are an estimate.
Nutrition
Serving: 1portion | Calories: 590kcal | Carbohydrates: 42g | Protein: 25g | Fat: 34g | Saturated Fat: 17g | Cholesterol: 100mg | Sodium: 620mg | Potassium: 1100mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 3260IU | Vitamin C: 19mg | Calcium: 121mg | Iron: 4.6mg