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Shepherd’s Pie
Every time I make shepherd’s pie, I have trouble restraining myself from eating the entire casserole. What is that? I serve it to my family, I eat my own helping, and then I wander into the kitchen and take just another forkful from the pan. Then another. Then another. To me, it’s more addicting than just about any other food.
I make mine with frozen peas. I suppose everyone has their own recipe, but I can’t imagine making it with any other vegetable. Then I use ground beef, and add in some sort of tomato base to give it some depth of flavor and keep it from getting dry. Usually I use tomato paste, but when I made it the other day, the tomato paste was all gone, so I just used some ketchup instead. As a tried and true hater of ketchup, I was as surprised as you, but it worked.
Shepherd’s Pie
1 1/2 pounds ground beef
1 small onion, finely diced
1/4 cup ketchup
pinch cayenne pepper
salt and pepper
1 10 ounce bag frozen peas
2 pounds mashed potatoes (use leftovers, your favorite recipe, or this recipe)
1/2 cup shredded cheese
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large skillet, brown the beef with the onion until the meat is fully cooked. Add in ketchup, cayenne pepper, and salt and pepper to taste. Pour meat into the bottom of a casserole dish. Pour peas over the meat, and spread mashed potatoes over the top. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake for 25-35 minutes, or until cheese is bubbling and the casserole is heated through.
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5 Comments
Comfort Food Lover commented on Jan 24 11 at 4:26 pmThis looks delicious, but it’s a recipe for Cottage Pie, not Shepherd’s Pie. Shepherd’s Pie is made with lamb, hence the name. However, as I have no lamb in the fridge, I will happily give your yummy recipe a try.
Peggy commented on Jan 24 11 at 6:18 pmThis sounds really fantastic! We always used to use corn instead of peas, but I bet a mixing of the two would be great as well!
Tina commented on Jan 28 11 at 6:41 pmShepherd’s pie is one of my favorites…and I get the going back for more thing!!!
I have never made it with cheese but am definitely going to try it. Could I use the same amount of tomato paste if I decide to put that in the beef instead?
Cara commented on Mar 30 11 at 2:31 pmWow! I made this last night and everything was so easy. You can just pre-make the mashed potatoes in the morning and or even assemble it all so that when you come home from work, all you have to do is stick it in the oven for 20-30 minutes. I made this with a treacle pudding recipe I found and it was great!
Mike commented on Apr 19 11 at 2:58 pmThis is a recipe for cottage pie, not shepherds pie. Shepherds pie has lamb, cottage pie has beef.
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