Shepherds Pie
Submitted by 1000john
Traditional British shepherd’s pie made from leftover roast lamb or beef, bound in gravy and topped with mashed potatoes. Old-school comfort food done properly.
YIELD
6 servingsPREP
10 minCOOK
35 minREADY
45 minReal British shepherd’s pie was never about ground meat. It was a clever way to turn yesterday’s Sunday roast into tomorrow’s hot dinner: cold roast lamb minced fine, bound with a quick flour-thickened gravy, and crowned with mashed potatoes. This is the original, the version your nan would recognize.
If you’re using leftover lamb, it’s properly a shepherd’s pie. Beef makes it a cottage pie. Use whatever roast you’ve got, just be sure to trim off the fat and gristle before mincing or you’ll end up with chewy bits in every bite.
The technique tip nobody tells you: let the gravied mince cool completely before topping with potato. Hot mince melts the mash into a sad, sunken layer. Cold mince supports the potato so it sits proud on top and crisps to golden peaks in the oven.
Whip the potatoes with a fork instead of a beater. You want texture and air, not gluey mash. Drag the tines across the surface before baking and those peaks turn deeply golden.
Pro Tips
- Use a starchy potato like Russet or Maris Piper for the fluffiest mash. Waxy potatoes turn dense.
- Make the gravy fairly thick. It firms up further when cool and should hold the mince together rather than swim around it.
- Brush the potato peaks with melted butter or scatter grated cheese before baking for serious crust.
- Cabbage is the traditional side, but buttered peas or a sharp green salad cuts through the richness equally well.
Variations
- Stir a tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce and a teaspoon of tomato paste into the mince for deeper flavor.
- Add a layer of cooked carrots and peas between the mince and potato.
- Top with sweet potato mash for a softer, sweeter finish.
Ingredients
Directions
Mince the cold meat, removing all fat, skin and gristle first.
Cook potatoes, peeled and cut in halves, until soft enough for mashing.
Melt 1 tablespoon butter or maragrine in a saucepan and stir in the four.
To this add slowly stirring, ¼ pint meat stock or milk.
When smooth and fairly thick and just to the point of boiling, stir in the minced meat.
Stir over a low heat for 3 minutes, seaoning with the salt and pepper to taste.
Pour into a flat oven proof dish and refrigerate.
Meanwhile, mash the potatoes, season and stir in ½ teaspoon butter or margarine, and a little milk and whick with a fork until smooth.
Set aside until the minced meat is cool enough to have solidified and formed a solid surface.
If you add the potatoes to hot mince, it will sink into it.
When cool, spread the potatoes about an inch thick all over the dish, working lightly with a fork.
Dot with pieces of butter or cover with grated cheese, if liked.
Bake in a 400℉ (200℃) oven for 30 minutes.
This dish may be prepared in the morning and left for cooking in the evening wothout harm.
Cabbage is the best vegetable to accompany this dish.
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