Shepherd's Pie

Let me start by saying that Shepherd's Pie is one of my husband's favorite meals, EVER. Let me also say that in the 11 years that we have been together, I have REFUSED to make this recipe for him. Mostly because of principle - I hate carrots, therefore any recipe with carrots I am just going to avoid like the plague or alter the recipe due to the fact that carrots were 'out of stock' at the commissary :) That being said, I finally caved, afterall the man did wait patiently for 11 whole years. So here it is...

Recipe:

Mashed Potato Topping:

1 1/2 pounds red skin potatoes

2 tablespoons salted butter

¼ to ½ cup of low fat milk (depending how lose you like them)

3/4 teaspoon garlic salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

4 ounces sour cream

For the Meat Filling:

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 small onion, chopped

2 carrots, peeled and diced small

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 1/2 pounds ground beef (you can use lamb if you’d like to get ‘fancy’)

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons tomato paste

1 cup chicken broth

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

2 teaspoons freshly chopped rosemary leaves

1 teaspoon freshly chopped thyme leaves

1/2 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels

1/2 cup fresh or frozen peas

Directions:

Cut potatoes into 1/2-inch pieces and place in a medium saucepan and cover with cold water. Set over high heat, cover and bring to a boil. Once boiling, uncover, decrease the heat to maintain a simmer and cook until tender and easily crushed with tongs, approximately 10 to 15 minutes. Once the potatoes are fully cooked, Drain the potatoes in a colander and then return to the saucepan. Mash the potatoes and then add the milk, sour cream, butter, garlic salt and pepper and continue to mash until smooth.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.


While the potatoes are cooking, prepare the filling. Place the olive oil into a 12-inch saute pan and set over medium high heat. Once the oil shimmers, add the onion and carrots and saute just until they begin to take on color, approximately 3 to 4 minutes. Add the garlic and stir to combine. Add the ground beef (or lamb), salt and pepper and cook until browned and cooked through, approximately 3 minutes. Sprinkle the meat with the flour and toss to coat, continuing to cook for another minute. Add the tomato paste, chicken broth, Worcestershire, rosemary, thyme, and stir to combine. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer slowly 10 to 12 minutes or until the sauce is thickened slightly.

Add the corn and peas to the ground beef mixture and spread evenly into an 11 by 7-inch glass baking dish. Top with the mashed potatoes, starting around the edges to create a seal to prevent the mixture from bubbling up and smooth with a rubber spatula. Place on a parchment lined half sheet pan on the middle rack of the oven and bake for 25 minutes or just until the potatoes begin to brown. Remove to a cooling rack for at least 15 minutes before serving.

Pictures:

*Like I said, totally not my favorite recipe I ever made but then again anything with carrots is an automatic FAIL; however, my critics Zach and Christina were incredibly pleased with the outcome so that must count for something!