Adapted from Shepherd's Pie on foodnetwork.com
Much like shepherd's
pie this is a meat base with a mashed potato top, but we have
decreased the meat and added a bunch of veggies and increased the
gravy type binder. Super good and very flexible. Feel free to swap
whatever veggies or meat you would like for what is below. Just make
sure that harder longer cooking veggies are added at the beginning
with carrots and onions and softer quick cooking veggies are added at
the end with the corn and peas.
For the potatoes
4 pounds potatoes
(any variety you like)
1/2 cup
half-and-half
1 stick (1/2 cup)
unsalted butter
1 1/2 teaspoon
kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly
ground black pepper
2 egg yolk
For the meat
filling
4 tablespoons canola
oil
1 cup diced celery
(or onion)
2 cups diced carrots
1 1/2 diced celery
root or parsnip (or leave out and slightly increase the rest of the
veggies)
1 lbs ground meat
(we have used beef and pork, if you use chicken or turkey you will
need to increase the oil a little)
1 1/2 teaspoon
kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly
ground black pepper
4 tablespoons GF
flour blend
1 1/2 tablespoons
tomato paste
2 cups chicken broth
2 teaspoon
Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons freshly
chopped rosemary leaves
2 teaspoon freshly
chopped thyme leaves
1 cup fresh or
frozen corn kernels
1 1/2 cup fresh or
frozen English peas
1/2 cup cooked
spinach
Roughly chop
potatoes and cook in well salted boiling water until soft enough to
easily crush with tongs or spoon. Start checking after 10 minutes
actual time will depend on how small you chop you potatoes and what
variety you use.
Warm half and
half and butter in a microwave safe bowl for 45 seconds. It does not
need to be all the way melted.
Drain potatoes
and return to pan. Mix in half and half, butter, salt and pepper and
mash. Stir in the yolk until well combined.
Preheat the
oven to 400 degrees F.
While the
potatoes are cooking, prepare the filling. Place the canola oil into
a 12-inch or larger saute pan and set over medium high heat. Once
the oil shimmers, add the onion, celery, celeriac and carrots and
saute until they begin to soften 5-7 minutes.
Push the
veggies to the outer edge of the pan and add the meat, salt and
pepper and cook until browned and cooked through, approximately 3
minutes.
Mix the veg
back into the meat and sprinkle with the flour and toss to coat,
continuing to cook for another minute.
Add the tomato
paste, chicken broth, Worcestershire, rosemary, thyme, and stir to
combine. Cook stirring often for 5 to 10 minutes until the sauce is
thickened slightly.
Add the corn,
peas and spinach to the mixture and spread evenly into a 9 by 13 by
2 inch glass baking dish.
Top with the
mashed potatoes, starting around the edges to create a seal to
prevent the mixture from bubbling up and smooth with a rubber
spatula.
Place on a
parchment lined half sheet pan on the middle rack of the oven and
bake for 25 minutes or just until the potatoes begin to brown.
Remove to a cooling rack for at least 15 minutes before serving.