Shepherdess' Pie
photo by JackieOhNo!
- Ready In:
- 1hr
- Ingredients:
- 13
- Serves:
-
4-5
ingredients
- 1 1⁄2 cups bechamel sauce (see note)
- 1 medium onion, minced
- 1 egg, beaten
- 1⁄4 cup cracker crumb (smash crackers in a small plastic bag)
- 1⁄4 cup fresh parsley, chopped (I like fresh best, but dried will work)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon thyme
- 1⁄4 teaspoon ground red pepper
- 1 teaspoon vinegar
- 1 lb ground beef (or lamb)
- 4 cups mashed potatoes
- 1⁄2 cup monterey jack cheese, shredded (orig. recipe called for kefalotyri but I've never found that, any cheese will work, but jack or font)
- 1 teaspoon paprika
directions
- Start by making Bechamel Sauce: Melt 1/4 cup butter, then whisk in 3 tablespoons flour; cook for a minute, then slowly stir in 1 1/2 cups warm milk (can microwave milk a minute beforehand to warm it). Cook this, stirring constantly till it thickens and coats spoon. Set aside till ready to use.
- Combine 3/4 cup of Bechamel Sauce with onion, egg, cracker crumbs, parsley, salt, thyme, red pepper, and vinegar.
- Add this sauce mixture to meat and toss with two forks to mix lightly (don't overwork meat) Put this all into a casserole dish, level off top and make a slight indent with back of spoon (just like with meatloaf).
- Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes, occasionally using a spoon to remove fat that collects in the indentation.
- Combine potatoes with remaining Bechamel Sauce.
- Remove meat from oven, sprinkle with the cheese, top with potatoes. Sprinkle with the paprika. Bake an additional 20 minutes.
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Reviews
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This is absolutely DELICIOUS! Wonderful flavor and the Bechamel Sauce puts this recipe over the top. A keeper for sure. I made as written with a couple of small changes, I used panko bread crumbs instead of crackers and white pepper instead of red pepper, I also used Colby & Monterey Jack cheese This is a great mid week recipe as it is so easy to put together. Thanks for posting this fabulous recipe! Made for Fall 2011 PAC.
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I was not as enamored of this as the previous reviewers, but I do see how I could come to like it more if I made a few changes. The idea is a great one, but I didn't care for the texture of a "potato-covered meatloaf"; it was just too dense for me. I think I would prefer to saute the beef with onion, crumbs, parsley, and other seasonings, then add the bechamel sauce to that mixture, top it with the potatoes, and bake all at once (like a traditional shepherd's pie). The flavors were great, though, and definitely worth experimenting with. Made for Spring PAC 2012.
Tweaks
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This is absolutely DELICIOUS! Wonderful flavor and the Bechamel Sauce puts this recipe over the top. A keeper for sure. I made as written with a couple of small changes, I used panko bread crumbs instead of crackers and white pepper instead of red pepper, I also used Colby & Monterey Jack cheese This is a great mid week recipe as it is so easy to put together. Thanks for posting this fabulous recipe! Made for Fall 2011 PAC.
RECIPE SUBMITTED BY
By day, I torture college students in my public speaking classes, and run the speech tutoring Lab at a local college, and I also deal with my 3 children and make sure my husband keeps our family business on track. Then in my spare time, I still manage to cook, which to me is my "stress relief." I love to try new recipes, and my big challenge in my family is that no one likes to try anything new... my husband has the most basic tastes, and our sons follow him and can barely get themselves to eat those green things, what do they call them, um, vegetables. They swear that hamburgers are vegetable... ha ha. I'm the only one in the family who loves fish and seafood, all kinds of vegetables and fruit - everyone else is take-out pepperoni pizza, hamburgers, hot dogs, fries, and fried chicken. UGH! Where did I go wrong! At least the students at my Speech Lab love all those brownies I bake and bring for them.