I’m just going to go ahead and say it: This is not a seasonally appropriate post. Shepherd’s pie is one of those cold, snowy, winters night meals, or for those of us in San Francisco, a cold rainy one. In my defense, the cooking and photo shooting of this recipe happened months ago.
I’ve been busy. Mostly with my Kickstarter campaign, and the preparations for it. It’s a pretty big project, and I’ve neglected blogging because of it. My intention is to put a new recipe up once a week, and I will try and get back to that schedule.
Now, onto the current matter: Shepherd’s Pie. After the many hours it took to prepare, style, shoot, cook and clean up, I saw this video from the one and only Gordon Ramsey. Face palm. It’s all in the mince??? I’m doing it all wrong! And come to think of it, he’s probably right. Grated vegetables, in place of diced, would integrate so nicely into the ground lamb and make the whole dish more cohesive. I have always made Shepherd’s Pie the way my mom did, by dicing the vegetables by hand, resulting in vegetables you can bite into. This recipe reflects that version, but feel free to Paleo-ize the Gordon Ramsey method!
2 pounds ground lamb
1 C peas (either frozen or fresh)
1 C carrots, small dice
1 C onions, small dice
2 T tomato paste
1 C red wine
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 T fresh minced rosemary, or 1 t dried
1 t sea salt
1/2 t pepper
1 batch mashed cauliflower
Preheat oven to 425°
- In a large skillet on medium-high heat, brown the lamb.
- Once the lamb has some nice color to it, remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.
- Add the onions and carrots to the hot skillet and saute for about 5 minutes. They will beging to soften and brown.
- Sprinkle in the salt and pepper.
- Add the peas and garlic and sauce 1 minute more.
- Stir in the tomato paste and the wine, and allow to come to a simmer.
- Put the lamb back in, and simmer until the liquid is nearly evaporated, about 5 minutes.
- Transfer the meat to an oven safe dish, about 9″ across, and high enough to fit the lamb and a layer of potatoes.
- Spread the cauliflower mash on top of the meat and put into the preheated oven.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes. If you’d like the top more browned, place it under the broiler for a couple of minutes. Or, if you happen to have a torch, torch it!
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pennyroyaldesign says
Well…since lamb is a spring meat, you could say shepheard’s pie is seasonal enough. Can’t wait to try this one. I am making the chicken tonight. Again. My new favorite dish.
zenbellyblog says
Good point! It’s seasonal after all. And the cauliflower does make it a whole lot lighter than potatoes…
Cassandra says
Looks so amazing. The mashed cauliflower looks so luxurious on top! Ground lamb is hard to come by where I live, so I will probably sub grass-fed ground beef…I guess that would make it a cottage pie instead of a shepherd’s pie.
zenbellyblog says
I remember we always had it made with beef when I was younger; it’s still delicious!
Patricia says
My parents used to make this when I was a child and we made it with Hamberg meat and mashed potatoes and no red wine or tomato paste, but everything else was the same.
Em (Wine and Butter) says
Yum! I really need to get on the cauliflower replacement train.. they are SO versatile. I regularly make roasted cauliflower and Ive tried cauliflower mash … but never to top shepherds pie and I also really want to try make pizza crust with it AND doing the cauliflower rice thing!
AmyH says
Really delicious! Will be making often!
Sara says
We made this the other night and we licked the plates clean. We purchaed the ground lamb from the growers market. This is recipe is no joke, totally off the hook! Great job Zenbelly!!!