Shepherd's Pie

The Recipe

Courtesy of: Rachel Ray's Top 30 30-minute meals - Comfort Food Cookbook

2 lbs potatoes, peeled and cubed
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1-3/4 lbs ground beef or ground lamb
1 carrot, peeled and chopped
1 onion, chopped
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 cup beef stock or broth
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup frozen peas
2 tbsp sour cream or soften cream cheese
1 large egg yolk
1/2 cup cream (vegetable or chicken broth may be substituted)
1 tsp sweet paprika
2 tbsp chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

In a large pot, boil potatoes in salted water until tender, about 12 minutes.

While potatoes boil,  heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add oil to hot pan, then beef or lamb. Season with salt and pepper. Brown and crumble meat for 3 or 4 minutes. If you are using lamb and there's a lot of fat, spoon some of it out. Add carrot and onion; cook 5 minutes stirring frequently. In a second small skillet over medium heat, cook butter and flour together, 2 minutes. Whisk in broth and Worcestershire. Cook to thicken, 1 minute. Add gravy to meat mixture. Stir in peas.

Drain potatoes and pour them into a bowl. Combine sour cream, egg yolk, and cream. Pour the cream mixture into potatoes and mash until potatoes are almost smooth.

Preheat broiler to high. Fill a small rectangular casserole with meat and vegetable mixture. Spoon potatoes evenly over meat. Top potatoes with paprika and broil 6 to 8 inches from heat until evenly brown, about 2 to 3 minutes. Sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve.

Tips/Tweaks

Keeping it Healthy

We tend to try and keep things on the healthier side, so we suggest not using the olive oil while frying the meat. Typically the meat provides enough grease to help cook the veggies. Also, we have used a beef/turkey blend in the past as the meat, which also provides a healthy twist to the meal without taking away from the flavor.

Using half-and-half versus heavy cream also helps lighten up the dish. Milk can also be substituted.  We typically use the cream cheese (1/3 the fat) and have left the egg yolk out if watching the cholesterol of the dish.

Fast Version

If you are in a time-crunch, using refrigerator mashed potatoes such as Bob Evans or Simply Potatoes works just as well. You can also use left-over mashed potatoes, just add a little extra cream than what the recipe calls for.

Review

This is one of our favorite dishes, especially in winter time.  It's not only an easy recipe to make, but it provides a delicious flavor. This is a recipe that we have been making together since college and we highly recommend it!