Easy Shepherd’s Pie: The Perfect Dish For A Cozy October Family Dinner
By Lela S. <0
I’m not gonna lie here, this dish is absolutely delicious. Creamy mashed potatoes on top of a meat and veggie filling is the perfect comfort food for the whole family.
Ingredients:
Mashed Potatoes
1 1/2 lbs russet potatoes (peeled and diced into 1/2 to 3/4 inch cubes)
1/4 cup whipping cream
4 tbs butter (at room temperature)
3/4 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
Meat Filling
2 TBS ghee
3 medium carrots peeled and dice into pea size pieces
1 lb ground beef or lamb
1 tsp kosher salt
4 medium garlic cloves minced
2 tsp dried rosemary
1 tsp dried thyme
2 TBS flour
1 cup chicken or beef broth
2 tsp tomato paste
2 tsp coconut aminos
2/3 cup peas fresh or frozen
1/2 cup corn kernels fresh or frozen
Instructions:
Mashed Potatoes
Put the potatoes in a medium pot and cover with cold water. Drain the water to remove any excess starches and then fill the pot with more cold water until the potatoes are just covered with water. Cover the pot and bring the water and potatoes to boil over high heat.
Once boiling, uncover the pot and reduce the heat to medium to maintain a simmer. Simmer the potatoes until they are easily pierced and crushed by a fork, about 10-15 minutes.
Once tender, drain the potatoes in a colander.
Return the empty pot to medium heat. Add the cream to the pot and heat just until warmed, about 1-2 minutes. Once warmed, remove the pot from the heat and set the cream aside for later.
Add the potatoes back to the empty pot and lightly mash with a whisk to break up the potatoes. Add in the room temperature butter and continue to mash and stir with the whisk until the butter is fully incorporated. Add the warm cream, salt, and pepper and continue to mash until smooth.
Meat Filling
Heat a large saute pan over medium high heat. Once hot, add the ghee, melt, and swirl to coat the pan.
Add the carrots and a pinch of kosher salt and saute for 3 minutes. Make a well in the medium of the pan by pushing the carrots to the sides.
Using the 1 teaspoon of kosher salt, salt both sides of the meat. If working with a block of meat, cut it in half to form two thin squares and salt both sides of each half of the meat.
Add the meat to the well and brown for three minutes on one side, flip and cook for another three minutes on the other side. Break up the meat into small pieces and cook for another 2 minutes, incorporating the carrots as you cook the ground meat.
Add the minced garlic, rosemary, thyme, and any left over salt from the 1 teaspoon used for the meat and stir for 2 minutes, careful not to burn the garlic.
Sprinkle the meat mixture with the flour, stir to combine, and cook and stir for another minute
Add the broth, tomato paste, and coconut aminos and stir to combine, scraping up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan.
Increase the heat to high and bring the meat mixture to a boil. Once boiling, cover the pan, reduce the heat to low, and simmer for 10 minutes, or until the sauce has thickened.
Remove the pan from the heat and add the peas and corn to the meat mixture and stir to combine.
Add the meat mixture to an 8x8 glass baking dish and spread evenly to cover the bottom of the dish.
Add spoonfuls of the mashed potatoes to cover the meat mixture. Using a spatula, smooth the potatoes out over the meat mixture until it is evenly, and fully covered, paying careful attention to the corners to prevent any potential juices from bubbling up. Use a fork and lightly rake the entire surface of the mashed potatoes from one end to another. Rotate the dish and then rake again in lines perpendicular to the ones you made before.
Place the dish on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake on the middle rack of the oven for 25 minutes, or until the potatoes begin to brown.
Once browned, remove from the oven and serve once cool enough to eat.