Shepherd's Pie

My husband has a horrible aversion to casseroles or anything close to a casserole. He won’t eat them, he scoffs at them and pretty much has nothing positive to say about them. Bottom line, we don’t have them. If for some reason I get a craving for something of a casserole nature I make it during the day.
My twins do not have above mentioned aversion, yet.

The other day I saw a post from one of the pages I follow, now don’t judge… it’s Honey Boo Boo’s page. Mama June makes something called a multimeal, which is pretty much her taking a few nights of leftovers into one meal.  The hubs saw the episode (if he confessed, he’s seen many episodes) where she showed this culinary delight. He once again got that pained “I am repulsed” look he gets, which inspired me to make a multimeal. Seeing the post on Facebook just brought it to the front and center of my “to do” list and my multimeal was born.

I knew I couldn’t do it exactly as Mama June did it. I have to admit, her “recipe” was a tad gross. The big globs of tub butter that she is so fond of (Bing “butter sketti”) just isn’t on my list. So after thinking of how to still make a Mama June multimeal, I decided to make a shepherd’s pie of sorts. I really like shepherds pie, I have never made one at home, but knew it was a fairly basic concept. Meat, vegetables, potatoes, got it!

I searched for recipes on Bing and man oh man there are some interesting ones out there. I perused a few from my favorite sites and decided to wing it with their guidance. What turned out was quite honestly super yummalicious. And it wasn’t just me that thought this, my casserole hating husband had three servings!!



This is what the pan looked like after dinner andI had some for breakfast.
After seeing all the recipes and variations of shepherd’s pie, I think it’s safe to say that you can customize it a bit to make it suit your family’s taste.  Below is the recipe I used.  I’m quite happy with it and would make it again.
Shepherd’s Pie:

For the potato topping:
2 lbs. potatoes
6 tbsp. butter
1/4 c. cream
2 egg yolks
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper

For the filling:
1 1/2 tbsp. olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
3 large carrots, peeled and chopped
1/4 c. parsley, chopped
2 lbs. ground lamb
1 tbsp. salt
2 tsp. pepper
1 tbsp. fresh rosemary, chopped fine
2 tsp. thyme
2 tbsp. tomato paste
2 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp. flour
1 1/4 c. beef broth
3/4 c. corn
3/4 c. peas

Boil the potatoes in salted water for about 15 minutes or until you can insert a knife in them.  Drain, leaving 1/4 c. of the boiling water in the pot.  Mash the potatoes.  Add the salt, pepper, butter, cream and mix in.  In a separate bowl, break up the yolks a bit, then add to the potatoes.  The potatoes should not be as moist as traditional mashed potatoes.  They will absorb some of the liquid from the filling so if they are too moist they will just be a big goopy mess on top.

While the potatoes are cooking you can make the filling.  In a sauté pan add the oil and let heat up for a few seconds.  Add the onions and carrots, cook until the onions start to get translucent.  Add the parsley, cook for another minute or so.  Add the ground lamb and cook for about 5 minutes until it is cooked.  Add the salt, pepper, rosemary, thyme and tomato paste, mixing it in well.  Cook for about two minutes so the tomato paste changes color a bit (it should deepen in color).  Add the Worcestershire sauce, mix in.  Sprinkle the flour over the top of the ingredients, then mix well.  If you just pour it in and not sprinkle it can goop up on you.  Once the flour has been mixed in, add the beef broth.  Once the liquid in the pan starts to bubble, maybe two minutes, add the corn and peas.  Cook another three or so minutes and the filling is done.
Preheat oven to 400 F
Put the filling in a baking pan and cover with the potatoes.  Since the potatoes are a little stiff I found piping it with a pastry bag then spreading it was the easiest way for me.  Cook for 25-30 minutes, then let it rest for about 10 minutes before serving.
Enjoy!!