Rustic Shepherds Pie Recipes

SHEPHERD'S PIE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375°F and set an oven rack in the middle position.
• Place the beef, baking soda, 1 teaspoon of the salt, and 1 tablespoon of water in a medium bowl. Mash with your hand to combine. Set aside for 20 minutes.
• While the meat tenderizes, place the potatoes in medium saucepan and add just enough cold water to cover them. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered, until the potatoes are soft and fork-tender, 8 to 10 minutes. Drain the potatoes and return to the saucepan. Place the pan over medium heat and stir the potatoes with a wooden spoon or potato masher until they are dry and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and add the sour cream, butter, half & half, and the remaining teaspoon of salt. Using a potato masher, stir and mash the potatoes with the other ingredients until smooth. Taste and adjust seasoning, if necessary. Set the mashed potatoes aside.
• Heat a 12-in oven-proof skillet over medium heat. Add the bacon and cook, stirring frequently, until crisp, 6 to 8 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the bacon to a paper towel-lined plate, leaving the fat in the pan. Add the onions and carrots to the bacon fat and cook, stirring frequently, until softened and starting to brown, 6 to 8 minutes. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute more. Add the wine and increase the heat to high; bring to a boil, scraping any brown bits from the bottom of the pan, until the liquid is reduced by about half. Add the flour and stir until dissolved. Add the reserved ground beef mixture, tomato paste, and Worcestershire sauce; continue cooking on high heat, breaking the meat apart with a spoon, until the meat is no longer pink, about 5 minutes. Add the chicken broth; bring to a simmer, reduce the heat to low, and cook, scraping any brown bits from the bottom of the pan, until thickened, about 2 minutes. Stir in the thyme, pepper, peas, and reserved bacon, and cook until the peas are warmed through. Taste and adjust seasoning, if necessary.
• Dollop the mashed potatoes evenly over the filling. Use a rubber or offset spatula to spread the potatoes evenly over the stew and all the way to the edges of the skillet. Drag a fork across the top to make ridges. Place the skillet on a baking sheet or large sheet of foil to catch any drips and bake until the filling is hot, the topping is lightly browned, and the edges are bubbly, about 30 minutes. (For more color, turn on the broiler and broil for the last 5 minutes, or until the top is golden.) Sprinkle with chives and serve.
• Note: If you don't have an oven-safe skillet, you can transfer the meat mixture to a 2.5-qt casserole dish and then spread the mashed potatoes overtop.
• Make-Ahead Instructions: The stew portion of the recipe can be made several days ahead of time and refrigerated. Before assembling the pie, reheat the stew, adding a little broth if necessary if it seems dry. The mashed potatoes should be made right before assembling and baking the pie.

EASY RUSTIC SHEPHERD'S PIE WITH THE CHEESIEST MASHED POTATOES

Steps:

• potatoes: boil the potatoes in a large pot of salted water until fork tender. Sometimes I'll throw in a couple cloves of garlic in with the potatoes too. Drain, mash and mix in the remaining mashed potatoes ingredients and season with salt and pepper to taste.
• cook the meat and veggies: heat the olive oil in a large oven-safe pot over medium-high heat. Add the ground lamb and crumble the meat using a wooden spoon. Cook for 4-5 minutes or until the meat browns, drain any excess grease leaving just 1 tablespoon. Add the mirepoix and season the veggies with a small pinch of salt and allow the veggies to cook down until translucent, about 7-9 minutes. Add the garlic and let cook another 30 seconds or until fragrant.
• beef gravy: Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 425ºF. Sprinkle the ground meat mixture with the cinnamon, nutmeg, and cornstarch, stir to combine and let cook for 15 seconds before adding the Worcestershire sauce, tomato paste, herbs, bay leaf, and beef stock. Allow the gravy to come to a simmer before reducing the heat to low and letting it simmer for 15 minutes. Remove the herbs, stir in the peas, taste and adjust with salt and pepper as desired.
• bake and serve: Drop large dollops of the prepared mashed potatoes on top of the beef gravy then smooth out gently. Bake for 15 minutes then, finish it under the broiler if you want it to be golden brown on top. Let cool for several minutes before serving.

SHEPHERD'S PIE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• Put the Beef Stew with Beer and Paprika in a 10-inch skillet or baking dish. Spoon the Horseradish Mashed Potatoes all over the surface of the stew and use a spoon or spatula to spread them out. Bake until the top is golden brown, 40 to 45 minutes.
• Heat the oil and butter in a large pot over medium-high heat. Brown the meat in 2 batches, 2 to 3 minutes per batch; set aside on a plate.
• Add the onions to the pot. Stir and cook until softened, 2 to 3 minutes, then add the garlic and cook for another minute. Add the flour and stir to coat the onions and garlic. Pour in the beef stock, beer and a splash of water, then add the tomato paste, Worcestershire, sugar, paprika, salt and some pepper. Add the beef back to the pot and stir to combine. Cover and simmer until the beef is cooked and the mixture has thickened, 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Top with the parsley if using.
• Note: The liquid should cook down to a thicker state. If it gets too thick/reduces too much, add water as needed.
• Bring a large pot of water to a simmer and add the potatoes. Bring to a boil and cook until fork-tender, 20 to 25 minutes.
• Drain the potatoes in a large colander. Put them back into the dry pot and put the pot on the stove. Mash the potatoes over low heat, allowing all the steam to escape before adding in the other ingredients.
• Turn off the heat and add the butter, cream cheese, heavy cream, horseradish cream, seasoned salt, kosher salt and pepper. Mash to combine. Add the chopped parsley and mix in.

RUSTIC SKILLET SHEPHERD'S PIE

Steps:

• If you have a cast iron skillet or an oven safe skillet, use that. Otherwise use a large frying pan and then you can assemble the Shepherd's Pie in a casserole dish.
• Heat a large skillet over high heat and add the beef; season with salt and pepper.
• Brown the beef and when it is completely cooked, strain it and then return the pan to the medium-high heat.
• Add in the onion, celery, carrot, and rosemary sprig; season with salt and pepper.
• Sauté for 10 minutes (still at medium-high heat), until veggies have softened and then add in the garlic. Sauté for about 30 seconds, careful to not let the garlic burn.
• Stir in the tomato paste and Worcestershire sauce then deglaze the pan with the ½ cup of wine.
• When the alcohol has cooked out (about a minute) add in the passata, stock, ½ tsp salt, ¼ tsp pepper; mix well.
• Let the pan come to a boil and then drop the heat to low; simmer on low heat for 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile start boiling the potatoes. When the potatoes are fork tender, strain them and return them to the pot they were cooked in.
• Add in the milk, sour cream, salt and pepper as needed mash together until the potatoes are completely smooth; taste and adjust seasoning.
• Preheat your oven to 400.
• Remove the pan from the heat, discard the sprig of rosemary and add the peas to the meat mixture; taste and adjust seasoning.
• Top the beef mixture evenly with the mashed potatoes and top the potatoes evenly with the Parmesan cheese.
• Bake for 35-40 minutes, until top is slightly browned.
• Let the pan rest for 5 to 10 minutes before serving.

CLASSIC SHEPHERD'S PIE

Steps:

• Heat oil in a skillet set over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, thyme, rosemary, and half of the salt and pepper. Cook, stirring often, for 5 to 7 minutes. Preheat the oven to 350 F (180 C).
• Crumble meat into pan and cook until brown all over. Sprinkle with flour. Stir in ketchup, tomato juice, Worcestershire sauce and mustard. Simmer for 5 minutes. Stir in mixed vegetables. Transfer to a 9-inch (23-cm) baking dish.
• Whip the potatoes with the warm milk, remaining salt and pepper, butter and garlic until very fluffy. Spread potatoes evenly over meat mixture. Bake for 35 minutes or until potatoes are golden.

TRADITIONAL SHEPHERD'S PIE

Steps:

• In a large skillet, cook beef over medium heat until no longer pink; drain and set aside. In the same skillet, cook bacon, onion, garlic and oregano until bacon is crisp; drain. Stir in the tomato sauce, olives and beef. Simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes or until heated through. , Meanwhile, combine the mashed potatoes, eggs, butter, cilantro and salt. Spread half of the potato mixture onto the bottom and up the sides of a greased 9-in. pie plate. Layer with beef mixture and remaining potato mixture. , Bake at 375° for 20 minutes. Brush the pie with melted butter. Bake 10 minutes longer or until top is golden brown.