Nothing says comfort food to me quite like a warm Shepherd’s Pie.  I don’t know its origin, but whoever thought of putting a savory beef and vegetable filling under a cheesy mashed potato crust is a genius in my book!

Here’s how it’s made!

The Filling

One thing I love about Shepherd’s Pie is how versatile it is, the vegetables can be customized to include your own favorites and you could probably even substitute ground chicken for the ground beef (I haven’t tried this, so please let me know how it turns out if you try it!).

For my batch, I started with carrot, celery, and garlic.  If I didn’t have a kid who is “allergic” to onions I would definitely have put that in this batch too – like I said though, it’s versatile.

Start by browning the beef and vegetables in a large saute pan over medium heat.

Once the meat is browned, tilt the pan to the side and spoon out excess grease.  I like to leave about 2 tablespoons in the pan for flavor and moisture.

To the drained meat and vegetable mixture, add spices and tomato paste and stir until everything is well coated and spices are fragrant (1-2 minutes).

I use Italian Seasoning and Lawry’s season salt to season my filling – together they’re perfect in this pie!

Next pour in 2 cups of beef broth (regular, not low sodium).

And lastly, add 1 1/2 cups of frozen vegetables.  I like equal parts of peas and corn, but I imagine green beans would also be good!  Use your favorites!

Stir to combine.  Cover and let simmer over very low heat for 20-30 minutes, until carrots are tender.

The Cheesy Potato Topping

Meanwhile, it’s time to start cooking your potatoes!  Peel and dice 5 medium Yukon Gold potatoes.  Boil the potatoes in salted water, until tender when pierced with a fork.  This should take about 20 minutes, depending on how big or small you cut your potatoes.  I took this picture of the potato in my hand, so you can get a feel for what I consider to be “medium-sized”.  Please pardon my alien hand…

Once the potatoes are soft, drain them and add the cream and freshly grated Parmesan cheese.  You know if there is a way to work cheese into a dish, I’m going to do it!  Mash until mostly smooth – a little texture is okay.  Season with salt to taste.  I usually add 1/2 teaspoon or so of kosher salt.

By now your veggies should be tender and your potatoes mashed.

Remove the lid from the meat and veggie mixture and add a cornstarch slurry (which sounds fancy, but it’s only equal parts water and cornstarch combined).  Boil uncovered until the mixture thickens to desired consistency.

Assembling the Casserole

Place the filling in the bottom of a 9 x 13 baking pan or a 9″ deep dish (not regular) pie pan.

Top with the potato mixture and do your best to spread it from edge to edge.  The key to this is to place the potato in small mounds across the top of the filling and do your best to spread to the edges.  We’re not looking for perfection here, Shepherd’s Pie is supposed to look rustic!  But if you put all of the potatoes in one mount in the middle of the pie, it will be really hard/impossible to spread them out to the edges (but still delicious!).

Use a fork to creat texture across the top of the potatoes and sprinkle with any cheese let on the cutting board (better on your pie than wasted!).

Bake in a preheated oven and sit down to enjoy one of your new favorite dinners!!  Seriously, so good!  My husband ate this for 5 days straight in his lunches (and actually enjoyed it – ha!).

Shepherd’s Pie

Topping:

5 medium Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled diced
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Salt to taste

Filling:

I pound ground beef, 85% fat
1 stalk of celery, thinly sliced
1/4 cup of onion, diced
3 medium carrots, peeled and diced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 1/2 cups frozen vegetables (I used 1 cup of corn and 1/2 cup of peas, but you can customize this part!)
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1 teaspoon Lawry’s seasoned salt
2 cups regular beef stock (1, 15 ounce can)
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons water

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 F.

Potatoes:

Put potatoes in a medium stockpot and cover with salted water. Bring to a boil, and boil until potatoes are fork tender. Drain, add cream and Parmesan, and roughly mash. Season with salt. Set aside.

Filling:

In a large sauté pan, brown hamburger with the diced onion, garlic, celery, and carrots. Drain, leaving 2 tablespoons of grease behind. If there is no extra grease, add 2 tablespoons of butter to the pan and melt. Add the spices and tomato paste, stirring until fragrant and the paste is well distributed.

Add stock and frozen veggies, cover, and let simmer until vegetables are tender (about 10-15 minutes). Stir often.

Pour cornstarch slurry into the beef and veggie mixture and let simmer briefly to thicken.

Pour contents into a 9 x 13 pan and cover with mashed potatoes (drop in several mounds over the pan – this will make it a lot easier to spread). It doesn’t need to be totally smooth, peaks and valleys make it even better. Bake for 20 minutes, until potatoes are slightly crisped on top. Serve immediately.

***This ceramic pie dish was given to me by Jefferson Street Ceramics.  These pie dishes are handmade and will seriously last a lifetime.  He’s now selling them online at Amazon.  Here is the link if you would like to buy your own! Jefferson Street Ceramics