Shepherd’s Pie for St. Patrick’s Day

Only a few days late, but I was still feeling in the St. Patrick’s Day mood. In keeping with that spirit I chose to make shepherd’s pie.

I used some of the typical ingredients like lamb, potatoes, onions, and carrots. I also added some of my own favorites just to get in some more vegetables, peas and mushrooms. For my inspiration I used Gordon Ramsay’s recipe for shepherd’s pie. I added my own quantities to it as this recipe did not give exact measurements for everything. I also omitted the egg yolks in the mashed potato topping.

The stars of the show, although the butter and chicken stock were camera shy.

Filling: 

• 1/2 pound ground lamb
• 1 cup carrots (chopped fine)
• 3/4 cup onion (chopped fine)
• 1 cup mushroom (chopped fine)
• 1/2 cup peas
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 tablespoon of thyme (chopped fine)
• 2 teaspoons of rosemary (chopped fine)
• 3/4 cup red cooking wine
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
•  6 tablespoons of tomato paste (1/2  6oz can)

Topping:

• a pinch of kosher salt for the water
• 3 large potatoes (chopped into even cubes)
• 3/4 cup heavy cream
• 1 1/2 tablespoons of butter 
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese 

To get started, I preheated the oven to 400 degrees. While the oven was preheating I got started on the mashed potato topping. I washed, peeled and evenly cubed 3 potatoes and placed them in a pot with just enough water to cover the potatoes, added a pinch of salt and brought them to a boil. Once boiling I timed them for about 15-20 minutes until fork tender. Then I drained my potatoes and added them to my mixer along with the 1 1/2 tablespoons of butter, 3/4 cup heavy cream, and 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper. I didn’t use salt because I knew the Parmesan cheese would add a salty enough flavor for me.

While I waited for the potatoes to boil I started on the filling. In my pan I added 1 tablespoon of olive oil and let it heat up a bit. Then I added my ground lamb and cooked it until nicely browned. Once the lamb was ready, I added the herbs (rosemary and thyme) and garlic, and let that saute for about 1-2 minutes. Next I added onions, mushrooms, carrots and peas. I let them soften up for about 10 minutes. Then I added the 6 tablespoons of tomato puree and the 3/4 cup of red cooking wine and cooked that off until the alcohol smell was gone (about 1-2 minutes). Next I added the 1/2 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce and 1 cup of chicken stock. I let that cook for about 5-10 minutes until it had thickened up.

Assembly:
I spooned all the lamb filling into the bottom of my oven safe bowl. Then I added my mashed potatoes making sure to evenly spread them over the top. As a final touch, I dusted the top with Parmesean cheese and forked it.

I placed the shepherds pie into the oven with a cookie sheet to catch any drippings and baked for about 20 minutes getting golden brown on top.

Depending on how hungry you are, plating can get a lil’ sloppy.

This recipe turned out really great. The seasoning of the mince filling was incredible. The rich, creamy and cheesy potato crust was delicious. It is hard to resist a second helping. For the future, as Gordon Ramsay suggested, I would grate the carrots in order to cut down the time necessary to soften them in the pan.