Shepherd’s Pie, the Greek-ish Way
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Since I’ve been making so many soups and stews lately, I seem to always have carrots and celery in the fridge. I was considering making a stir fry this week until I remembered I had some ground lamb frozen, so I decided to use that up along with the veggies and make a shepherd’s pie.
I’ve actually never made a shepherd’s pie before, and I think, like most classic dishes, there are 1794 ways to make it. I have seen them with ground beef, lamb shoulder, beef roast, even chicken, before. I decided to make mine sort of aGreek-style, with flavors that I am very familiar with.
This was a tasty and extremely comforting dish.
Shepherd’s Pie
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 onion, diced
2 carrots, sliced
2 ribs celery, sliced
1 lb. lean ground lamb
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbsp. tomato paste
4 oz. sliced mushrooms
1 Tbsp. flour
1 cup beef broth
1/2 cup red wine
allspice (I only have it whole, and used maybe 6 of them; otherwise I’d guess about 1/2 tsp. or so)
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 bay leaf
1 Tbsp. dried parsley
salt and pepper
1/3 cup peas
1 batch mashed potatoes (I used about 1.5 lbs potatoes and also stirred in about 1/4 cup grana padano cheese)
In a large saute pan (or a dutch oven), heat the olive oil. Add the onions, carrots and celery and cook them for about 2 minutes. Add the garlic and stir until fragrant, about 30-40 seconds. Add the lamb and brown, about 5-8 minutes.
Stir in the tomato paste, cinnamon, parsley, allspice, bay leaf and mushrooms, and cook the paste off for about a minute or two. Add the flour and do the same. Stir in the beef broth and wine, bring to a boil and then reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer for about 20 minutes or so to combine the flavors and thicken the sauce.
Stir in the peas and then pour the lamb mixture into a baking dish. Top with the mashed potatoes (run a fork over them for a prettier design). Bake for about 20 minutes in a 375 degree oven or until potatoes brown. Alternatively (or in addition to, which is what I did), stick the dish under the broiler for a minute or two to brown the potato crust.
Sounds as good as any Shepherds Pie I’ve ever made. But I’ll be trying your version here with the Greek twist added to it!