Dutch Oven Shepard's Pie

This is a Gordon Ramsey recipe that we've tweaked a little bit. While this is technically called Cottage Pie, Shepard's Pie is traditionally made with lamb and Cottage pie is made with beef, the name Shepard's Pie has become widely used for both. Shepard's Pie originated from either north England or Scotland by people looking for a cheap way to use leftover meat around the time when potatoes were becoming popular in the area. This recipe calls for a Dutch Oven but in can also be done in a frying pan and transferred to a baking dish.

Dutch Oven Shepard's Pie

Ingredients:

1 lb ground beef

1 large onion, grated

1 large carrot, grated

4 cloves garlic, minced (more or less to personal preference)

2 tsp Worcestershire

1 tbs tomato paste

1 tsp dried thyme

1 tsp dried rosemary

1 cup red wine (or you can use chicken stock if you prefer)

1-2 bay leaves

1 1/4 cup chicken stock

1 tsp corn starch or flour

2 lbs potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks

3-4 garlic cloves, smashed

2 tbs butter

2 egg yolks

milk

Parmesan cheese for grating

garlic salt

pepper

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350F
• Add ground beef to a preheated Dutch Over and season with salt and pepper, brown over high heat for 3-5 minutes (if using a frying pan do this over medium high)
• Add onion, carrot, and garlic; continue cooking until beef is fully browned
• Add Worcestershire, tomato paste, thyme and rosemary; cook 1-2 minutes stirring constantly
• Pour in red wine and reduce until almost evaporated (if not using wine skip this step)
• Add bay leaves
• Add chicken stock, bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer; simmer until sauce is reduced slightly and thickened.
• Meanwhile boil potatoes with smashed garlic cloves in salted water until tender
• Drain, then return to the hot pan over low heat to dry out briefly; remove from heat
• Mash potatoes with butter then beat in egg yolks
• Add milk to keep the potatoes from getting too thick
• Season with garlic salt and pepper to taste; add approx. 2 tbs Parmesan cheese
• At this point if your sauce has reached a gravy consistency combine a tsp of corn starch or flour with a small amount of water. Add to beef mixture, return to a boil and allow to cook for about a minute stirring constantly.This would also be the point to transfer your beef mixture to a baking dish if you are not using a dutch over.
• Spoon potatoes oven beef mixture starting from the outside working in
• Grate extra Parmesan cheese over the top and season with salt and pepper
• Bake for 20 minutes or until bubbly and browned

These picture aren't great but our camera was dead so we had to take it with Chase's phone...

ENJOY!