Shepherd’s Pie – Basil Butter

It’s snowing today in Wisconsin and I can’t think of a better comfort food than Shepherd’s Pie. Shepherd’s pie originated in England and is made with lamb, here in the states and in my house I make it with beef. Technically because it’s made with beef I probably should be calling it Cottage Pie…but at this point must we split hairs???? Personally you could call it garbage pie and this dish would still be a hit at this house! It’s everything you need on a cold day and more. I have had some practice the last few weeks as this is my sisters favorite meal and it’s her yearly birthday dinner request. If your’re not familiar with this dish it’s basically ground beef gravy, with vegetables, and then topped with mashed potatoes. Now enough of all this background detail…lets get to cooking!

Disclaimer: Read the directions in its entirety as you are going to be making this dish in stages. Start by peeling potatoes and allowing to boil. While potatoes are boiling this is when you want to make your meat filling. When meat filling is complete your going to want to mash the potatoes as the filling does need to cool off slightly before spreading potatoes on top. Also if your short on time you can buy already peeled and cubed potatoes in the freezer section…all you have to do is microwave for 10 minutes and then add milk and butter. I must admit when I’m short on time or just plain lazy these potatoes really come in handy.

Prep time: 30 minutes

Cook time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

1.5# of ground beef
2 #’s of russet potatoes (about 4 potatoes)
1/4 cup of softened butter
2/3 cup of half and half
2 Tablespoons of olive oil
1 onion diced
3 garlic cloves crushed
2 Tablespoons of flour
1 tsp of salt
Fresh ground pepper to taste
1 Tablespoons of tomato paste
1 Tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce
1/4 tsp of ground nutmeg
1 Tablespoons of fresh chopped parsley
2 sprigs of thyme stems removed
1 cup of beef bone broth or beef broth
2 cups of mixed peas&petite diced carrots (get this in the frozen section)

Directions:

1. First start by peeling and cubing your potatoes. Place in a large pot and cover with water. Once water gets to boiling turn down heat to a simmer and continue to cook until fork tender (approx. 20ish minutes or so) Once potatoes are done through cooking drain potatoes add butter and half and half back to the pot where the potatoes were boiling and let melt (the heat from the pot will melt the butter) Add potatoes and mash either using a potato masher or electric hand mixer. Season with salt and pepper to taste. NOTE: POTATOES SHOULD BE A BIT THINNER THAN YOU NORMALLY WOULD MAKE BECAUSE WE HAVE TO SPREAD THE POTATOES OVER THE MEAT FILLING SO ADD MORE MILK IF NEED BE.

2. While potatoes are cooking lets start preparing the filling. Pour olive oil into a 12-inch saute pan and set over medium high heat. Once the oil shimmers, add the onion and garlic saute till soft, approximately 3 to 4 minutes. Add the ground beef, salt and pepper and cook until browned and cooked through, approximately 3 minutes. Sprinkle the meat with the flour and toss to coat, continuing to cook for another minute. Add the tomato paste, bone broth, Worcestershire, nutmeg, parsley, and thyme, and stir to combine. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low, add the frozen mixed peas and carrots. Cover and simmer slowly 10 minutes or until the sauce is thickened slightly. Remove from heat and let stand for 7 minutes. Pour into a greased 7 x 11 baking dish. Top with potatoes…. start by placing dollops of potatoes on the outer edges of the pan and work your way to the center, once complete use a spatula to spread potatoes evenly. Place in a preheated oven of 350 and bake for 30 minutes. (Your pie maybe really full so I typically put my casserole dish on top of a baking sheet before placing in the oven to catch any spillage)

Enjoy,

XOXOXOXO Jessi