Shepherd's Pie

Submitted by Mary Leverington

"In the "old days" shepherd's pie was made with roast beef, gravy, vegetables, and mashed potatoes--the leftovers from Sunday dinner. I used to make it when I had leftover mashed potatoes, but then later I went to all the trouble of making the mashed potatoes so that we could have Shepherd's Pie. The key to the flavor is in browning the beef and carmelizing the onions to develop richness and then making a gravy with the results. Heavenly!"

 

• Ready In: 1hr
• Ingredients: 9
• Serves: 6

ingredients

• 1 1⁄2 lbs ground beef
• 1 large onion, sliced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• salt and pepper
• 1 cup water (more or less)
• 1 1⁄2 - 2 cups frozen peas or 1 1/2-2 cups mixed vegetables
• 3 -4 cups mashed potatoes

directions

1. Brown the ground beef very well on medium high in a large fry pan stirring frequently.
2. (Add a little vegetable oil if necessary.) Add the onion and garlic and cook until the onions are slightly browned.
3. Keep an eye on this so that the mixture doesn't burn.
4. Sprinkle the flour over the meat and onion mixture and stir until all the flour has been absorbed.
5. Cook 2 or 3 minutes stirring frequently.
6. Add water and the Worcestershire sauce and stir to dissolve browned particles stuck to the bottom of the pan.
7. Let bubble on low for about five minutes.
8. Add more water if it's too thick.
9. Add salt and pepper to taste and possibly more Worcestershire sauce.
10. Place meat mixture in the bottom of a large casserole dish.
11. Put frozen peas on top of this and then the mashed potatoes.
12. Bake in 350F oven for about a half hour or until bubbly.
13. Let rest about 15 minutes before serving.

Reviews

[Daphne2002]

This meal was very quick and easy to put together with my leftover roasted garlic mashed potatoes. I also added a large carrot and a couple stalks of celery. After the recommended cooking time, I turned on the broiler for a moment to add some color and crispness to the top of the potatoes. Texture wise, it was great. This recipe does however need a little spice added to it, so next time I'll experiment.

 

[Steve]

Amazing Fact No 102... Shepherds pie is made with lamb, Cottage pie with beef. Logical huh? I was a chef and it took years before I discovered that!

 

[Mandarintea83]

Okay, this review is technically skewed, because I did my own thing with this dish. I basically used this recipe as a starting point. I added a lot of seasoning and herbs to this dish to improve the flavor, because the ground beef would have been very bland without it. I put in 2 minced garlic cloves instead of just 1. And then I put in 2 tsp for Worcestershire sauce (again instead of just 1), a palm-full of dried Rosemary, 5-6 dashes of dried Thyme, 10 dashes of Lawry's Seasoning, 5 dashes of "Mixed-Up Salt", a few of Paprika, as well as Chili Powder. All of the aforementioned seasonings/herbs (including Worcestershire sauce) were mixed into the meat before cooking it, along with the diced onion, and minced garlic cloves. Brown the seasoned meat, and it's going to be juicy, even if you use 80/20 beef like I do (you probably won't need the cup of water mentioned in this lady's recipe). After this, I added about 4 tbsp flour (instead of the 3) to make it a little thicker. Then add a half can (or 5-6 oz) of low sodium tomato soup. Set to low for a while. Make sure the meat has been seasoned to your taste. Oh, and you don't have to use frozen vegetables. I used canned peas, and that's just fine. One last thing- add some shredded cheddar cheese to your mashed potatoes when you're mixing them up. It adds a nice touch. I didn't season them very much either, because I seasoned the meat so well. This is definitely a must-make-again dish for my husband and I! I feel like I can bring this to parties now. Good eats, peeps! <3<3<3

 

[Bloodwyn]

Extremely simple to follow, very tasty. I used peas & carrots, and put cheese on the top...making a combo of your recp and my moms. Very nice.

 

[Rachel Ricard]

I found the meat to be very bland and that was after I added more worchestershire sauce and garlic then the recipe called for.