Shepherd's Pie I
Cottage pie, or shepherd's pie, is a meat pie with a mashed potato top. It is traditionally made with leftover roast meat, but today it is more often made with fresh minced meat.
Source and licence
"Shepherd's Pie I" from the Wikibooks Cookbook (https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Cookbook:Shepherd%27s_Pie_I, revision 4605182), by its contributors (https://en.wikibooks.org/w/index.php?title=Cookbook:Shepherd's_Pie_I&action=history), licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).
Read the original CC-BY-SA-4.0 Revision 4605182
What was changed: Reformatted by FoodByNation from the wiki page: ingredients and steps extracted, links and templates removed, diet notes detected from the ingredients. This adaptation is also licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
United Kingdom. Associated with United Kingdom by curated dish list: shepherd's pie (confidence 0.75). "Associated with" means only that the evidence named here links this recipe to that place. A recipe isn't labelled as representing an entire country because a source associates it with one, and regional origins are kept where the source gives them.
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Ingredients
- 30 g (1 oz) lard (optional)
- 1 lb (450 g) minced or ground lamb or beef
- 3 lb (1.3 kg) powdery old potatoes, such as King Edwards
- 1 large or 2 small onions
- 2 tbsp flour
- 2 cups (300 ml) beef stock (alternatively, bouillon cubes can be used, or gravy powder, if the flour is omitted)
- Cheese, grated (optional)
- 1 handful of mixed vegetables such as sweetcorn or carrots (optional)
- Mixed herbs
- Milk
- Butter
Method
- Heat oil in a pan and brown the mince. Where lean meat is used, there may be no need to use additional oil.
- Finely chop the onion and lightly fry in a little butter with a small amount of salt until clear.
- Add the onions to the mince, mixed herbs, and some pepper.
- Sprinkle the flour over the mixture, stir, and cook for 3–4 minutes (if using gravy powder, omit this step).
- Cover with lamb or beef stock (or add water and beef bouillon/gravy powder) and simmer for 30 minutes.
- Test the savoury mince for seasoning. If gravy is not used, additional salt may be needed.
- Meanwhile:
- Peel, chop and boil the potatoes for 20 minutes until cooked.
- Once the meat is cooked, skim off the excess fat, then reduce the savoury mince until the liquid is level with the mince and onions.
- Drain the potatoes until completely dry. Mash until smooth and free of any lumps.
- Add butter to the mashed potato, taste and add seasoning as required.
- Slowly add milk whilst mashing until the mash is soft and creamy (heavy mash will not float properly on top of the mince).
- Put mince mixture in a shallow oven-proof dish.
- Layer the mash over the meat and brush the tops of the potatoes with melted butter.
- If desired, sprinkle the grated cheese on top of the mash.
- If cooking without cheese, rough up the surface of the mash by dragging a fork across it, as if ploughing a field.
- Bake in a hot oven for about 30–50 minutes until the top is golden brown.
- Serve with peas or beans, or other green vegetables.