Traditional shepherd’s pie, with slow-cooked stewed lamb and gravy topped with mashed potatoes, is delicious but time-consuming to make. We wanted a streamlined recipe with flavorful meat. The most
common shortcut is to use ground meat, so we began by swapping the lamb for ground beef. To keep the meat tender even if the pie was frozen and reheated, we skipped browning it and just cooked it until no longer pink. To replace the missing flavor from the browned meat, we sautéed the onions, carrots, and tomato paste to create a flavorful fond in the pot. We deglazed the pot with red wine and boosted the filling’s flavor with thyme and Worcestershire sauce. The Worcestershire lent the gravy depth, color, and a
subtle savory note. We also added chicken broth to the filling to make sure it stayed moist and saucy. For the mashed potato topping, we used enough cream and butter so that the topping could be frozen and reheated without becoming gluey and dry. To achieve a beautiful golden-brown top on our pie, we broiled the casserole for a few minutes at the end of baking. Be sure to buy 93 percent lean ground beef or the finished casserole will be too greasy.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 2 onions, chopped fine
- 5 carrots, peeled and sliced ¼ inch thick
- Salt and pepper
- 2 pounds 93 percent lean ground beef
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 4 teaspoons tomato paste
- ⅓ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup dry red wine
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme or ½ teaspoon dried
- ¾ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 3 pounds russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
- ¾ cup heavy cream, warmed
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- ⅔ cup frozen peas
- Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 400 degrees. Heat oil in Dutch oven over medium heat until shimmering. Add onions, carrots, 1 teaspoon salt, and ½ teaspoon pepper and cook until softened, 8 to 10 minutes. Add ground beef, breaking up meat with wooden spoon, and cook until no longer pink, about 5 minutes. Stir in garlic and tomato paste and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in flour and cook for 2 minutes.
- Slowly stir in wine and cook until slightly reduced, about 2 minutes. Stir in broth, thyme, and Worcestershire, scraping up any browned bits. Bring to simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until mixture is slightly thickened, 6 to 8 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and spread evenly into broilersafe 13 by 9-inch baking dish.
- Meanwhile, place potatoes and 1 tablespoon salt in large saucepan and add water to cover by 1 inch. Bring to boil, then reduce to simmer and cook until potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes; drain potatoes. Return potatoes to nowempty saucepan and cook over low heat until dry, about 1 minute. Off heat, mash potatoes smooth with potato masher. Stir in cream, followed by butter, and season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Sprinkle peas evenly over filling, gently pressing them into dish. Dollop potatoes evenly over top, spreading it right to pan edges.
- Drag fork across top of potatoes to make ridges. Bake casserole on aluminum foil–lined rimmed baking sheet until hot throughout, about 35 to 40 minutes. Remove casserole from oven and heat broiler. Broil casserole until potatoes are spotty brown, 5 to 10 minutes, rotating dish halfway through broiling. Let cool for 10 minutes before serving.
