Made from Scratch Shepherd's Pie

I love comfort food and I love finding new ways to make it.  For Mark and I, Shepherd's Pie is normally something we will have when we go out to a restaurant but it is not even remotely difficult to make.  Here's my super simple recipe for really tasty Shepherd's Pie.

Made from Scratch Shepherd’s Pie

3 lbs                      Lean Ground Beef

2 cups                   Gravy (I used Low Sodium Gravy Mixes – 2 packets worth)

8                           Yellow fleshed potatoes

¼ cup                    Garlic butter

1 tbsp                    Parmesan & Herbs Seasoning

2 tbsp                    Worcestershire sauce, divided

1 tbsp                    Pepper

2 cups                   Mini carrots, chopped into bite size pieces

2 tbsp                    Balsamic Vinaigrette

¾ cup                    Parmesan cheese, grated

¼ cup                    Goat cheese, plain

¼ cup                    Maple cheddar, shredded

¼ cup                    Milk

PINCH                 Habanero Salt

I started out by steaming the mini carrots in the microwave.  In a microwaveable safe container, add in your carrots and 1 tbsp of water.  Microwave on HIGH for 4 minutes.  When the carrots are finished in the microwave, remove them and chop them into bite size pieces.  Hold to one side until the ground beef is finished cooking.

Next go on to making the gravy for this.  Simply follow the package directions to make the gravy and then once it is bubbling away, add in half of the Worcestershire sauce and the Parmesan and Herbs Seasoning to the mixture in the saucepan.

At the same time, start browning all of the ground beef in a large frying pan.  Once the meat is cooked through, drain off the fat and then return to the heat.  At this point, add in the Parmesan cheese, the remaining Worcestershire Sauce, the carrots, the Balsamic Vinaigrette and the gravy.

Chop the potatoes into medium size chunks and put them into another saucepan.  Also start a filled kettle boiling with water.  Once the potatoes are chopped and the water is boiled, start the potatoes cooking over high heat on the stove top.  Once the water is boiling, with the lid on, lower the temperature to low and set the timer for 5 minutes. 

Stir the ground beef mixture and start preparing your baking dish for the oven by spraying it with non-stick cooking spray.

Turn the oven on to 350°F.

Once the five minutes is up on the timer, drain the water from the potatoes and return the potatoes to the saucepan.  Add in the garlic butter, milk and goat cheese to the potatoes.  Using a masher, smash the potatoes until they are very smooth.

Pile the meat mixture into the base of the prepared baking dish.  Now it is time to add the potatoes on top.  You have a couple of options on how you want to do this.  The simple way would be to spread a layer of mashed potatoes on top but if you want to make it look fancy, using a piping bag and the largest star tip you have, pipe rosettes of mashed potatoes onto the top of the beef mixture.  Just a side note: Take your time with this step, especially if you have arthritis in your hands, as this gives your hands quite a beating.  It took me approximately 15 minutes to pipe all of these rosettes because I had to keep taking breaks. 

Having said that, the final product does look quite amazing when you sit down to enjoy it because you did take the time to make it look good.

Now it’s time to heat the mixture through completely and brown the potatoes.  This takes approximately 20 minutes at which time you will remove it from the oven, turn the oven to the broil setting, top the shepherd’s pie with the maple cheddar and return it to the oven to melt the cheese and allow it to start to bubble.  This will only take about 90 seconds so keep an eye on the oven at this point.  Once it has started to bubble, remove the Shepherd’s Pie from the oven and sprinkle the top with Habanero Salt.  Let it cool slightly before serving – don’t worry, the heat trapped beneath the potatoes will not allow your dinner to cool down significantly and will prevent you from burning your mouth off.

Makes 6 servings