What Is Shepherd’s Pie

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Tips From The Pillsbury Kitchens

Perfect Shepherd’s/Cottage Pie That Anyone Can Make
  • tip 1 Part of what makes this Shepherd’s Pie recipe easy is the fact that the ingredients are fully cooked before your layer them together in the baking dish, so youre just heating them up until hot and aromatic.
  • tip 2 Sprinkle 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese onto mashed potatoes before baking for a cheesy topped Shepherd’s Pie.
  • tip 3 A main-dish pie is a great way to use that extra pound of ground beef. Try a few varieties of frozen vegetables you have stashed in the freezer for a different twist on this Shepherd’s Pie recipe.
  • tip 4 If you arent sure about the volume of your casserole dish, pour in measured amounts of water to be sure you wont overflow it with the pie filling.
  • tip 5 Ground beef is the usual, budget-friendly go-to for weeknight meals, but stock up on other ground meats when theyre on sale. Ground turkey, chicken, or pork would be great in this easy Shepherd’s Pie recipe. Cook the ground meat with the onion until thoroughly cooked continue with recipe.
  • tip 6 Refrigerated mashed potatoes are easy and nice to have on hand. Try any flavored refrigerated mashed potatoes to top this main-dish pie.

How Do You Make Shepherds Pie In One Pan

Use a large 12-inch cast iron pan or another oven-proof skillet. The filling can be made in the pan, and then the potato topping can be spread on top. The dish is then baked until hot and then broiled for a few minutes to get the surface golden in color. If you dont have a pan that can be used in the oven, simply transfer the filling to a similar size casserole pan or baking dish.

How Long To Boil Eggs For Deviled Eggs:

  • Fill a large pot 3/4 full of water.
  • Place the pot over high heat until the water comes to a rolling boil. This can take between 7-12 minutes, depending on the size of your pot and how much water you use. To speed things up, I use hot tap water and keep the lid on the pot until the water is boiling.
  • Carefully and gently add the desired amount of large eggs to the boiling water. A mesh strainer works well for gently lowering more than one egg at a time into the hot water.
  • Boil the eggs for 13-14 minutes. Adjust the heat as necessary so that the water doesnt boil over.
  • Remove the pot from the heat. Drain the hot water from the pot while keeping the eggs in the pot. You could use the lid of the pot or a strainer to help keep the eggs in the pot as you drain the hot water.
  • Add cold water to the pot until the eggs are covered in cold water. Pour that water out. Repeat with more cold water.
  • Add 2 cups of ice to the pot. Gently stir the eggs. If the ice melts, add more until the water stays ice cold.
  • Let the eggs rest in the ice cold water for 5 minutes.
  • Remove the eggs from the cold water. Store in the refrigerator for up to a week until you are ready to use them.
  • Gently crack the egg shells and peel the eggs.

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Prep Ahead And Tips For Shepherds Pie

You will love how easy and convenient this dish is. It can be made a day in advance, which makes dinner prep easier.

  • Layering After prepping the meat mixture, let it cool and then chill it in the fridge for 20 minutes. This will help keep the mashed potato layer separated.
  • Prep Ahead Prep and assemble up to one day in advance and refrigerate. Let it come to room temperature 30 minutes before baking it.
  • Quick Clean Up If your baking dish is very full, place it on a parchment lined baking sheet to avoid any juices spilling in your oven.
  • To Freeze Before Baking
  • Cool completely. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and then in foil. Freeze.
  • Thaw overnight in the fridge. Bake for 45 minutes covered and 15 minutes uncovered

Can Dogs Eat Mashed Potatoes

Hearty Shepherd

Potato eaters dogs should eat mashed potatoes, mashed potatoes? You may bring your pet this dish over to the porch if the potatoes have not been roasted and do not have any salt added, seasonings, milk or butter. In spite of the fact that potatoes are often filled with nutritional value for dogs, that value isnt good for them.

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What Fruits Go In Shepherds Pie

Shepherds Pie is a classic dish thats always a favorite among comfort food lovers. With apples and pears, which are both slightly sweet and crisp and pair well with the savory richness of Shepherds Pie.

Shepherds pie is a traditional English dish consisting of a layer of minced meat topped with a layer of mashed potatoes, baked in an oven.

While most of us might think of pairing traditional mashed potatoes with shepherds pie, the truth is that many types of fruit can be used to garnish or complement the flavors in this dish.

The biggest issue people have with this home is how to make the Shepherds Pie taste even better. Happily, there are many ways to do that, including adding fruits to the dish.

The addition of fruits to the meat and potatoes adds a certain freshness to the dish that is hard to resist. The key is to use fruits with a high acidity and sweetness content that will cut through the meat and potatoes.

What Is Shepards Pie

If youre new to Shepherds Pie , let me be the first to welcome you to your new favourite comfort food. Essentially, its lamb and veggies smothered in a gravy and who doesnt love an excuse for tons and tons of gravy?

All those times you were limited to just a small drizzle on a few slices of roast lamb because there wasnt enough to go around Bah! This is how you get your gravy fix!!

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Ingredients For Shepherds Pie

  • Ground Beef we used lean beef, or you can substitute with ground lamb.
  • Salt and Pepper after several tests, we found this simple seasoning is all that is needed. Thyme and rosemary are commonly added but we found it overpowering in any quantity.
  • Onion we used yellow onion, but you can substitute any variety
  • Garlic aromatic that enhances the sauce
  • All-purpose flour thickens the sauce
  • Red Wine use a dry red wine to add rich flavor. Use any dry red wine such as Pinot Noir, Merlot, Cabernet, or Sauvignon
  • Beef Broth you can use Chicken broth if that is what you have on hand.
  • Tomato paste rounds out the flavor of the sauce
  • Worcestershire sauce adds the umami
  • Frozen vegetables we use a combination of carrots, peas and corn

How To Make Shepherd’s Pie In A Pressure Cooker

SHEPHERD’S PIE RECIPE | how to make shepherd’s pie easy healthy

When I first came across this recipe, I was puzzled. Maybe I hadn’t had my coffee yet, but I imagined tossing ground beef, veggies, and a few whole potatoes into the Instant Pot and then lifting off the lid to reveal a table-ready Shepherd’s Pie topped with mashed potatoes.

In reality, there are a few more steps involved — though not many!

Coco has you start by prepping the filling using the Sauté function on the Instant Pot. Then you place a tall steamer rack in the pot and place the peeled potatoes on top.

Then the lid goes on and everything pressure cooks together. At the end of cooking, the potatoes are perfectly cooked and ready to be mashed with milk.

For a traditional casserole-style shepherd’s pie, you transfer the filling to an 8×8 pan, top with the mashed potatoes, and broil until the top is golden. You can also serve this in bowls by scooping out some filling and topping it with a generous dollop of mashed potatoes. So easy!

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Why Doesn’t Shepherds Pie Have A Crust

The original shepherd’s pies were baked in pastry crusts and used leftover roast meat combined with a savory gravy to bring it all together. When the dish made its way from Scotland to Ireland, they skipped the pastry and used their abundance of potatoes instead, creating the modern-day mashed potato topping.

The Best Mashed Potatoes For Cottage Pie

You can easily use leftover Creamy Mashed Potatoes or even Garlic Mashed Potatoes if you have some on hand, but be sure to add parmesan and egg. Heres what youll need to cook mashed potatoes for Shephards Pie:

  • Russet Potatoes whip up super creamy and smooth
  • Heavy Whipping Cream makes potatoes luxuriously creamy
  • Salt add to taste after mashing
  • Parmesan cheese gives the potatoes the best taste
  • Egg creates that lovely golden hue in the oven
  • Butter helps with color and keeps the potatoes moist

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Gather The Ingredients For Shepherd’s Pie

This recipe requires a fair amount of ingredients, so be sure to check for items that you may have at home already. Start with 2 pounds of potatoes and some butter. In addition, you will need to get salt, pepper, and milk. The recipe also calls for extra virgin olive oil and a few things in the produce section like an onion, carrots, and garlic.

For the meat, be sure to pick up some ground beef. You will also need a few spices like thyme and rosemary. Next, grab a little flour and tomato paste. Then, throw some beef broth and Worcestershire sauce into your car. You will also need to swing by the frozen section for corn and peas.

Tips For Making Shepherds Pie

Traditional Shepherds Pie Recipe

There are a few stages to making Shepherds Pie, but its a straightforward recipe. Theres just two little things that you dont see in most recipes, little things that bugged me:

  • Cool the filling before topping with potato: It thickens and makes it easier to spread the potato across the top and it stops the potato weeping into the filling

  • Creamier mashed potato = easier to spread and just an all round better eating experience. I just dont like dry, very firm mash. When I break through the mash, I want it to be borderline collapsing, rather than being able to cut cleanly through it like cake.

  • I stress again these are little things that bug me, so feel free to by-pass them! Nagi x

    PS One last time Cottage Pie is made with beef. Shepherds Pie is made with lamb!

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    What Is Shepherd’s Pie

    Shepherds pie recipes were first developed in England in the mid-19th century. Recipes differ from traditional meat pies because they do not involve meat enclosed in a pastry crust. Instead, shepherds pie consists of a layer of ground meat and a few vegetables topped with a creamy layer of mashed potatoes. The dish is baked until the top of the potatoes forms a golden-brown crust.

    The first shepherds pie recipes included ground lamb, a bit of onion, and perhaps some peas and carrots. The lamb produced some gravy as it was cooking. The result was almost an upside down version of potatoes with gravy. Shepherds pie had more substance than simple mashed potatoes, though, because of the quantity of meat in the recipe.

    Other countries soon adopted shepherds pie, and produced two variants. Instead of ground lamb, some recipes substituted ground beef. Though traditionally this variant is called cottage pie, most in the US recognize it as shepherds pie. Less familiar in the US is the use of ground fish, which makes a dish correctly termed fishermans pie.

    The Special Topping: Cauliflower And Potato Mash

    One other change from traditional shepherds pie is the topping: Its a blend of cauliflower and potatoes! This means fewer carbs and calories , but more importantly, the added health benefits of cauliflower.

    The recipe calls for sharp or extra-sharp cheddar cheese, which plays off of the cauliflower and adds a pleasing crust when baked.

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    Is Pinot Noir Healthier Than Cabernet Sauvignon

    The healthfulness of red wine is largely due to its antioxidants. … Although virtually all red wines have almost no residual sugar, pinot noir typically has a lower initial sugar level before fermentation, resulting in a wine with less alcohol and fewer calories than, say, your average cabernet, Appleby explained.

    Suggestions And Substitutions For Shepherds Pie

    How to Make an Easy and Traditional Shepherds Pie | You Can Cook That | Allrecipes.com

    A true shepherds pie is actually done with lamb, not beef . Cottage pie is the term traditionally applied to one made with beef.

    Regardless of what you call it, you can make this with basically any type of ground meat you like, knowing that they range widely in fat content. Ground lamb, turkey, bison, venison, and beefor half and half of any of the aboveare all fair game.

    Nothing beats fresh vegetables and cheese youve grated on the spot to make this recipe, but if youre short on time, here are a few shortcuts:

    • Swap in frozen mixed vegetables for the carrots, celery, and peas. Use two and a half cups and add them to the dish when it instructs you to add the peas.
    • Use pre-shredded sharp cheddar. Take a gander at the ingredients, since some brands use additives to keep the cheese from clumping. Less is more, if you ask me.
    • Buy screw-top wine. Every little bit counts when it comes to saving time. Plus, fussing with a bottle opener isnt my favorite pastime. You dont need fancy wine for this anyway, just something dry and drinkable.

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    Boil And Drain The Potatoes

    Grab a stockpot and place it on your stove. Add in the diced potatoes. “The potato chunks should be about 1-1.5 inch thick,” Shelbert shares. Cover the potatoes with water and turn the heat up to high. Once the water starts to boil and you see bubbles reaching the top of the surface, you can lower the heat to a rolling boil. Continue cooking the potatoes for about 15 minutes, until you can easily pierce them with a fork. Remove from the heat and strain the excess water through a colander.

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