Classic Shepherd's pie recipe | Jamie Oliver recipes (2024)

FAQs

How is shepherd's pie originally made? ›

And, by doing so, the humble shepherd's pie was born. Originally, the dish contained a pastry shell at the bottom, top, or both. Over time, this morphed into potato slices at the bottom and top of savory minced lamb meat, until it eventually became a topping of mashed potatoes.

Classic shepherd's pie is made with ground lamb, gravy, mashed potatoes, and veggies like peas, corn, celery, and carrots. Why is my shepherd's pie soggy? Avoid a soggy pie by simmering the meat mixture for at least 8 minutes. Be sure to cook down the mixture to remove excess moisture.

Irish Shepherd's Pie is a delicious comforting dish perfect for celebrating the upcoming St Patrick's Day. Ground meat is cooked with lots of vegetables and Guinness, topped with delicious mashed potatoes and cheese and then baked to create a perfect golden crust.

The easiest way to thicken shepherd's pie filling is by sprinkling a few tablespoons of flour into the ground beef mixture as it cooks before adding it to the baking dish. The starch in the flour will absorb the extra liquid and create a thick gravy.

It's called cottage pie in the U.K. because they use beef and in Ireland since the shepherds tend sheep, it's shepherd's pie. No doubt, the English put out an excellent cottage pie, but in Ireland it used to be a delicacy since the Irish couldn't afford beef they repurposed any unused veggies and meat.

“Shepherd's pie” and “cottage pie” are used interchangeably, but technically traditional shepherd's pie is made with ground lamb and traditional cottage pie is made with ground beef.

To stop the mash sinking into the filling, allow the meat to cool before topping with the mashed potato. Freeze in individual ovenproof dishes for an easy meal for one. For a really crisp, golden topping, flash under the grill for a few mins before serving.

How do you keep shepherds pie from falling apart? The eggs in the mashed potatoes help keep the pie together. You should also make sure to spread the potatoes and press down a bit.

Both ingredients are already cooked so it really only needs to be in the oven long enough for the potato to form a golden brown crust on top. Minced or ground beef is used for a Cottage Pie not a Shepherds pie.

Talk about satisfying. Ground beef, vegetables, and gravy are baked under pillowy mashed potatoes. If it's not yet already, this will soon be a family favorite recipe.

Is shepherd's pie good for you? ›

This ultimate comfort food can be quite unhealthy, with lots of butter in the mash and pushing up your saturated fat intake. Here are a few ideas to make this classic a little healthier and just as tasty.

The two English terms have been used interchangeably since they came into use in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, although some writers insist that a shepherd's pie should contain lamb or mutton, and a cottage pie, beef.

This traditional shepherd's pie recipe is made with a mixture of lamb and sirloin, lots of veggies, and a creamy, cheesy mashed potato topping ⁠— sure to delight everyone at the table!

Why is my shepherd's pie runny? Generally, this is caused by using too much stock.

The name “shepherd's pie” first appeared in an English cookbook of 1877 that attributes the dish to Scotland while complaining that it is “too farinaceous,” since the potato topping was evidently itself topped by a wheat-flour shell.

Most workers ate their meat, potatoes and corn separately but workers of mainly Asian origins, combined their rations to create shepherd's pie, a more communal dish. The French-Canadian railway workers liked this new concoction, adopted the dish, and called it “pâté chinois”, which loosely translates to Chinese pie.

From Egypt to Rome via Greece

The Ancient Egyptians were the first to invent a dish close to what we know as a pie today. They had a honey filling covered in a crusty cake made from oats, wheat, rye or barley. A recipe for chicken pie was also discovered on a tablet carved prior to 2000 BC.