Shepherd’s Pie is one of my favorite English foods and one of my favorite cold weather foods. Its warm and savory….and it has gravy. Anything with gravy is delicious. It can seem like a lot of work to make a 2-step dish but this is fairly fast. I start the potatoes first and then make the filling while the potatoes boil. There’s another good reason to start the potatoes first–I created this recipe cooking chicken broth in the potatoes. This starchy, flavorful cooking liquid makes a fantastic addition to the filling and thickens it up a bit. If you’re feeling fancy, top with a little chopped parsley or chives. This serves about 4 people.
Shepherd's Pie
For the Potatoes:
1 can chicken broth
4 medium potatoes
¼ cup cream
Splash of milk
Kosher salt and ground white pepper
Boil potatoes in 1 can chicken broth and a splash of water (just enough to cover potatoes) until tender. Drain, reserving boiling liquid. Keep a little splash of the boiling liquid in the potatoes. Add the rest of the ingredients and whip with a hand mixer. Taste for seasoning. Set aside while you make the filling.
For the filling:
olive oil
4 large carrots, diced
1 medium onion, diced
1 cup frozen peas
½ cup frozen corn
1 lb ground beef (wagyu from Costco is the best)
1 heaping tbsp. cornstarch
Dried Marjoram and thyme
Sauté carrots and onions in a couple tablespoons of olive oil sprinkled with a little kosher salt and pepper for a few minutes until they start to soften, add ground beef and start breaking up the meat as it cooks. Sprinkle meat with kosher salt and pepper and cook until browned. Stir in peas and corn. Sprinkle cornstarch over mixture then stir in. Next, slowly add in about 1-1/2 cups cooking liquid from potatoes. Simmer for a few minutes on low until mixture thickens. Stir in herbs.
Put filling into ungreased large casserole dish then carefully top with mashed potatoes. Top potatoes with freshly grated parmesan. Bake at 375 for 20-25 minutes then broil until the top is golden brown in spots, about a minute.
