A GORGEOUS SHEPHERD'S PIE FROM SCRATCH

Shepherd’s pie, also called cottage pie, is a savory pie that is very common in British households. Its origin lies in old England and Ireland. The pie is made up of minced meat served with a mashed potato top. The term “cottage pie” was first used in the 18th century by the poorer sections of the British society started using potato as an everyday food. Any sort of a pie made out of minced meat and mashed potato was called cottage pie.

In modern times, the minced meat used in a classic shepherd’s pie is beef or lamb.

A number of variations of the shepherd’s pie has been made. This is testimony to the fact that the dish is incredibly popular and that classic dishes tend to get personalized by cooks over time. Shepherd’s pie can be made with any kind of minced meat. Some parents even swipe and/or add a number of vegetables in their shepherd’s pie recipe to trick kids into eating greens.

What follows is a classic recipe of the old time English favorite dish of Shepherd’s Pie. The following is the most popular and commonly used recipe worldwide.

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 carrots, diced
• 2 stalks celery, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 2 pounds lean ground beef or lamb
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 cup beef stock
• 1 1/2 cups garden peas
• Cheesy Mashed Potatoes, recipe follows
• Mashed Potatoes
• 4 pounds Yukon gold potatoes, peeled, quartered
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup grated mature white Cheddar
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

How to cook-

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees

In a large skillet, add oil and butter on medium heat. Then proceed to add diced onions, carrot, celery and garlic. Sautee these for about 10 minutes or until they soften. Make sure to season this with salt and pepper.

Once the vegetables are tender and starting to brown, add tomato paste and stir to get an even mixture. Add the ground beef and cook for about 10 minutes. What we are looking for is for the beef to not be pink anymore.

Now, add Worcestershire sauce and beef stock and season with salt and pepper. Let it simmer away for another 10 minutes.  Add the peas next.

Transfer the mixture into an oven-proof baking dish and spread out evenly. Place the potato evenly on top of the spread. After it is spread, rake through the top with a fork so that you will have little peaks that will brown beautifully in the oven.

Put the tray into the oven for about 20 minutes till the dish browns. Spoon out the shepherd’s pie and serve

For the mashed potatoes, take a sauce pan full of cold water and add a tablespoon of salt into it. Add potatoes into the water and bring it to a boil. Let the potatoes cook for about 20 minutes until they are of a desirable density. Once done, drain the potatoes and put them back in the pan for mashing. Add butter and cream before you start mashing. When you reach a semi smooth consistency, chuck in some cheese and mix well.   

There it is. A gorgeous Shepherd’s Pie from scratch. As mentioned before, shepherd’s pie has a multitude of variations. You can swipe out beef for lamb or chicken or even vegetables. And your choice of spices and recipe for the mashed potatoes can be made as personalized as possible.

There are a few cooking tips that exist irrespective of the dish you are cooking.

Always remember the salt

Always taste your food while cooking.

When in doubt, add butter.

There is no such thing as too much cheese.