Shepherd’s pie

By grammadot

Ingredients

• Vegetable oil as needed
• 12 ounces mirepoix, small dice, see note
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 pound ground lamb or beef
• 1 teaspoon salt, or as needed
• 1 can (26 ounces) tomatoes, pulsed in a food processor until smooth
• Herbes de Provence, as needed
• 2 pounds russet potatoes, peeled, cut into 4 or 6 pieces
• 2 bay leaves
• 4 to 8 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup heavy cream, heated
• White pepper
• 1 to 1 1/4 pounds fresh peas or trimmed green beans

Preparation

Step 1

1 For the meat sauce, heat a heavy-bottomed skillet over medium-high heat. When it’s hot, add some oil and the mirepoix; saute until vegetables just start to turn color, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the garlic; saute until just fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the meat, breaking it up with a wooden spoon. Saute, stirring, until meat cooks completely. Season with salt to taste. Add the tomatoes. Stir in a teaspoon or two of herbes de Provence, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer to blend flavors, 20-30 minutes.

2 For the potatoes, simmer until fork tender in boiling, unsalted water with bay leaves, 10-20 minutes. Drain; remove bay leaves. Pass potatoes through a ricer or smash with a potato masher. While hot, mix in butter and hot cream until smooth. Season with salt and white pepper; set aside.

3 For the vegetables, heat a large pot of water to a boil; salt liberally until it tastes like sea water. Add the peas or green beans; cook until just tender, 3-10 minutes. Drain and shock in ice water to stop the cooking and set color. Season with salt and reserve.

4 To assemble, spread the cooked, seasoned vegetables over the bottom of an appropriately sized, ovenproof dish. Spoon the meat sauce evenly over the vegetables. Spread or pipe the potatoes over the meat in an even layer. Bake in a 400-degree oven until the sauce is bubbling and the potatoes are beginning to brown, 30-45 minutes.

Note: Mirepoix is a 2-1-1 mixture of onion, celery and carrot; in this case, about 1 1/2 cups chopped onion, and 3/4 cup each chopped carrots and celery.

Nutrition information per serving (for 8 servings): 365 calories, 16 g fat, 8 g saturated fat, 62 mg cholesterol, 39 g carbohydrates, 16 g protein, 561 mg sodium, 6 g fiber