Thursdays Are For Cooking…
Shepherd’s pie is on the menu. It is a simple, easy dish to fix, filling and nutritious and really, who does NOT love mashed potatoes and beef?
Easy Shepherd’s Pie Recipe
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 50 minutes
Yield: Serves 4 to 6, depending on how hungry your crowd is
INGREDIENTS
- 1 1/2 to 2 pounds potatoes (about 3 large potatoes), peeled and quartered
- 8 Tablespoons (1 stick) butter
- 1 medium onion, chopped (about 1 1/2 cups)
- 1-2 cups vegetables—diced carrots, corn, peas
- 1 1/2 lbs ground round beef (Note: ground prime rib is even better!)
- 1/2 cup beef broth
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- Salt, pepper, other seasonings of choice
Put 4 tablespoons of the butter in a large sauté pan on medium heat and let it melt, then add the chopped onions and cook until tender, about 6 to 10 minutes.
If you’re going to use carrots, cook them with the onions to the soft state. The corn and peas won’t take quite so long to cook, but since this dish is going to spend time in the oven, too, they only need to go to the edge of being cooked. Frankly, I think using frozen mixed vegs and frozen chopped onions is much quicker and easier.
Add the ground beef, then Worcestershire sauce and broth: Add ground beef to the pan with the onions and vegetables. Cook until no longer pink. Season with salt and pepper.
Add the Worcestershire sauce and beef broth. Bring the broth to a simmer and reduce heat to low. Cook uncovered for 10 minutes, adding more beef broth if necessary to keep the meat from drying out. Don’t overcook it, because it will get oven time, too.
Mash the cooked potatoes: When the potatoes are done cooking (a fork can easily pierce), remove them from the pot and place them in a bowl with the remaining 4 Tbsp of butter. Mash with a fork or potato masher, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Note: This is where a convenience food like instant mashed potatoes will save you some time.
Preheat oven to 400°F. Spread the beef, onions, and vegetables (if using) in an even layer in a large baking dish (8×13 casserole). Spread the mashed potatoes over the top of the ground beef. Rough up the surface of the mashed potatoes with a fork so there are peaks that will get well browned. You can also sprinkle a little paprika on the potatoes to give them a little color, and toss a few small chunks of butter onto the surface of the potatoes to give them a tad of extra flavor.
Place in a 400°F oven and cook until browned and bubbling, about 30 minutes. If necessary, broil for the last few minutes to help the surface of the mashed potatoes brown. Note: I don’t think this broiling step is necessary if you brush the mashed potatoes with a little butter.
Category: Economy
Thank You for another great recipe, Ex-PH2.
Comfort Food.
Another alternative to peeling pototoes: Use red potatoes instead of russet potatoes.
Don’t peel the red potatoes.
Just wash, quarter and boil them, skin and all, until they are tender. I always turn off the stove after they are boiled and let them steam by covering the pot. After draining, return the potatoes to the pot. Use a small can of evaporated milk and of course, BUTTER as well as salt and pepper..use enough of the milk until the potatoes are mashed to one’s liking.
Vidalia onions are great to use in this dish.
meatandpotatoes
I think the red potatoes make better mashed potatoes than the russets, which are better for fries and hash browns. But that’s just me.
Anyway, I love shepherd’s pie. It is filling and really nutritious and easy to fix, including using leftovers like the end of a beef roast and the last bits of frozen vegs in that bag in the freezer.
num num num num. Baby girl & I made this up when I was down there for Christmas. We used the similar recipe you had posted last year. It was some kinda good. We did use the frozen mixed vegetables and the red taters. Made a great big cast iron skillet full of buttermilk cornbread. I hurt myself.
Loves me some smashed taters and orasted beef beast. Still use my Granny’s old school tater smasher, wooden handle with the looped business end.
#time2eat
My granny’s ol’tater masher had a beautiful red handle painted with lead infused paint! Haha, there was probably lead in her beautiful crockery serving bowl, too.
We used to have new potatoes, in the south, in the early spring.
I wonder how Hemingway might have phrased the last sentence.
Yukon Gold taters are great for LAMPS- Lazy-A$$-Mashed-Potatoes. I cut them unpeeled to a more-or-less uniform size, cover with water adding a fat pinch of salt, lid up and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer, and check after 30 minutes or so for done-ness as described above. Drain. All bets off now, but I use an entire stick of unsalted butter and veggie broth to mash, leaving just a bit of texture (Sis Mary Cat would call them lumps), hence the unpeeled “Lazy” part. Fresh cracked pepper and salt to taste.
Love fresh cracked pepper!
As it were, I have used a stick of butter, all at one time, to make legitimate chocolate chip cookies and one time to make Cin-a-bon style cinnamon rolls.
Haha, now Betsy tells me that I have used that much butter when making sirloin tips.
Wimmins and dawgs, they never forget anything.
I WANT this, among the penultimate of comfort foods. I have done variations with lamb but ground meat is just as good.
Church wimmins at a Presbyterian church where our Scout troop was hosted used to serve this on Wednesday nights.
I have no recollection of this ever showing up in the mess hall but have no complaints as there was always something on the buffet that was delicious and satisfying.
Agree on using frozen veggies. I just have a very difficult time putting a stick of butter into anything less than shrimp etoufee. So, I get someone else to do that part 🙂
Hey, does anyone have the Las Vegas odds on which one of the 746 d-rat clowns will be the candidate to run for #POTUS ???
Man, I just can’t keep track of them and they are all apologizing for something…
I mean beto the clown apologized for being born… And he’s running for president ???
Holy crap…
If he’s that much of an idiot, he will glow like a 4th of July sparkler – all show and no substance. He actually makes AOC look almost semi-smart.
It ought to be good.
How’d you know that I got a big pile of left over smashed taters from a funeral dinner yesterday and planned to use them for shepherd’s pie? That should make a pretty good sized pan of it, with left overs going into the freezer. Yum.