In yesterday’s mashed potatoes post, I mentioned the shepherd’s pie that I prepared for the British-themed potluck party. Today, I’m sharing the actual recipe. I have dubbed it “Savory Shepherd’s Pie” because of a conversation at the party. One of my friends said, “Oh, I like this shepherd’s pie. It’s very savory.” I’ll take it!
Anyway, when I had decided to make a shepherd’s pie, I went to the online home of one of my favorite British-themed places in New York City, Tea & Sympathy. I love afternoon tea and they have one of the best services in the city along with other main dishes. I looked on their catering menu to see what they included in their Shepherd’s Pie. Their beef shepherd’s pie is served with peas and carrots with mashed potatoes as the pie crust, so that is how I made mine. I looked at a *few recipes for shepherd’s pie to see what was consistent across the board (Worcestershire sauce and beef broth or stock) and then just went to work. Here’s what I came up with…
Savory Shepherd’s Pie
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients:
- Mashed potatoes
- 1/2 onion, chopped
- 1/2 cup carrots, sliced
- 1 pound ground beef
- Seasoned salt, freshly ground black pepper (and your other desired beef seasonings)
- 1/2 cup frozen peas
- 2 splashes Worcestershire sauce
- 1/4 cup beef broth
- Optional: grated cheddar cheese to sprinkle on top of the shepherd’s pie
Cooking Instructions:
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. As you are softening the potatoes in the microwave, prepare the vegetables and beef.
2. In a large frying pan, cook the onions and carrots together over a low heat until they are softened (approximately 3 – 5 minutes). Put the vegetables aside in a large bowl.
3. Then, use the frying pan to brown the beef over a medium heat. (I use seasoned salt, freshly ground black pepper, and ½ a pack of dry onion soup mix to season my ground beef.) Drain the extra liquid from the beef.
4. Add the onions and carrots back to the frying pan with the beef. Add the peas and mix everything together well. Add the Worcestershire sauce and beef broth to the mixture along with another light sprinkling of the salt and pepper. Let everything simmer together in the pan over a low heat for a few minutes.
5. Place the contents of the frying pan into a glass casserole dish. (I used a glass 8 x 8 one.) Cover the beef and veggies with an even coat of the mashed potatoes. Be sure to touch all of the edges of the dish with the potatoes. Sprinkle the top of the pie with grated cheese if desired.
6. Bake the pie for 30 minutes. Then, change the oven’s setting to broil and allow the pie to bake for an additional five minutes to brown. Remove the pie from the oven. (You can serve it right away, but it tastes better – in my opinion – if you let it cool to room temperature. It “sets” better.)
Recipe Notes
-I don’t use any type of butter or oil to cook the vegetables or ground beef. They make their own “juice”.
-You can double the amount of beef broth if you like. Personally, I prefer a drier beef for this particular dish.
*Reference Recipes:
[...] Sympathy also serves some amazing British comfort food overall. In fact, when I wanted to make a savory shepherd’s pie, I turned to Tea & Sympathy for inspiration. (Yes, they are that good!) Please note that the [...]