Living On Food

Shepherd's Pie

 

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 pounds lean ground lamb
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• salt and ground black pepper to taste
• 2 teaspoons minced fresh rosemary
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon ketchup
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 1/2 cups water, or as needed
• 1 (12 ounce) package frozen peas and carrots, thawed
• 2 1/2 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and halved
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 pinch ground cayenne pepper
• 1/4 cup cream cheese
• 1/4 pound Irish cheese (such as Dubliner(R)), shredded
• salt and ground black pepper to taste
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 tablespoons milk

Directions

The above rather lengthy list of ingredients comes from Chef John, but the basic principle is simple.

Fry the ground lamb and onion together and keep at it until the water cooks off. It will take about 10 minutes–don't rush this step.

Add garlic and flour and cook until the flour is absorbed. Then add dry spices and do the same.

Add water and catsup. Cook until everything gets nice and thick. This step will also take a while. The result is a nice thick flavorful gravy.

Meanwhile, cook and mash the potatoes. Add the butter, cream, cheese, salt and pepper. Beat an egg and milk together. By the time you've mashed the potatoes, they will have cooled a little. Beat in the egg.

Then layer the pie and bake it for 25-30 minutes until the mashed potatoes are brown and everything is hot and bubbly.

Notes

It may seem weird to cook shepherd's pie from scratch, but Uly and I rarely have the right kind of leftovers in the right quantities to make it from leftovers.

---