We love shepherd’s pie at home. There is the classic shepherd’s pie made with beef mince, onions and tomato sauce and there is the special kind made with leftover meat from a large casserole or a slow cooked piece of meat. This is the one I am covering here.
In France, where I grew up, we don’t call them shepherd’s pie but “hachis parmentier”. The dish takes its French name from a French chemist who played a key role in promoting potatoes as edible. The English name refers to the social class of those for which potatoes was a daily menu staple. It is also called “cottage pie”, similarly referring to those who lived in cottages. There is in English a subtle difference between the cottage pie and the shepherd’s pie. The first one being made with beef, the later one with lamb meat.
Serves 4
Ingredients:
FOR THE MASH
- 5 medium to large potatoes for mashing
- Butter (15 g)
- 1 cup of milk
FOR THE MEAT LAYER
- Two cups worth of meat leftovers.
- If there is some juice/sauce, do not discard it, we will use it.
- If the sauce and meat is a bit blend, use half a jar of tomato sauce (a nice pasta sauce)
Method:
the mash potato
1.Fill a large saucepan to 2/3 with water, add 1.5 tablespoons of rock salt, bring to a boil.
2. In the meanwhile, peel the potatoes and cut them in large chunks. Add to the water when ready.
Tip: if you cut the potatoes in small dices, you will soak them with water and the flesh will become too watery, so keep the chunks at least 3 cm on the side.
Tip: potatoes do not need to be added to boiling water, it is perfectly fine to place potatoes in cold water and then heat up the saucepan.
3. When the potatoes are cooked (soft in the middle when inserting a knife), drain them, add butter and milk and with a potato masher, mash the potatoes. If the mash is a bit dry, add a little milk making sure to add only a little at the time.
MEAT AND ASSEMBLY
4. Heat up the oven to 200°C.
5. In a frypan (or a sauce pan but a frypan would be quicker as it is wider), heat up the meat and sauce. Add tomato sauce if necessary. You can choose to add at this stage some grated carrot, grated zucchini or even peas. You can add spices, salt and pepper. It all depends of the quantity and taste of the meat you have.
Tip: Grating vegetable allows them to cook throughout
Tip: You can choose not to heat up the meat and place it directly in the dish, just ensure that you leave the dish long enough in the oven to ensure it is hot before serving as the mash will already be hot.
6. Once all is mixed up, place the meat at the bottom of a roasting dish, add the mash. Use the teeth of a fork to pattern the top of the mash. Add a few little nuts of butter (4 max) here and there. Optionally, add a little grated cheddar cheese.
7. Place in the oven until the potatoes peaks are brown.
Tip: If the meat and potato mash are already hot and you are short with time, just place the pie under the grill for 5 minutes.
