Shepherd's pie: a fresh start for a legendary dish - Food Adventures in Cooking

Sunset, April, 2003 by Jerry Anne Di Vecchio

In days past, when Sunday dinner was routinely a roast with gravy, a meal of leftovers inevitably followed. One appealing roast reincarnation was as shepherd's pie (or "cottage pie")--cold meat and gravy with a top crust of mashed potatoes, baked until browned and bubbly One reference I came across recently claims that the dish first appeared in the 1870s with the advent of a mincing machine to grind the meat. In The Boston Cooking-School Cook Book, by Fannie Merritt Farmer (originally published in 1896 and still surviving as The Fannie Farmer Cookbook), the recipe for shepherd's pie is brief to the point of barren and uses roast beef In other old cookbooks, the meat is often lamb.

Without leftovers from a roast, though, how do you create this comfy dish? My choice is to make a richly browned, deeply flavored onion gravy poach moist meatballs in it, then nestle the mixture in a wreath of mashed potatoes. I think Fannie would approve.

Meatball Shepherd's Pie

PREP AND COOK TIME: About 1 3/4 hours

NOTES: You can substitute ground turkey for the beef if you like. While you make the brown onion gravy, cook the potatoes: boil, bake, or microwave them. If you have cold leftover cooked potatoes, plain or mashed, reheat them in a microwave oven until steaming, then measure. You can make the gravy and assemble the pie through step 5 up to 1 day ahead; cover and chill. Uncover to continue; bake about 35 minutes if chilled.

MAKES: 6 servings

1 1/2 pounds ground lean beef (see notes)
  1/2 cup finely chopped parsley
    2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
    2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
    1 large egg
      About 1/2 teaspoon salt
      About 1/4 teaspoon pepper
      About 1/2 cup fat-skimmed beef broth
      Brown onion gravy (recipe follows)
  1/2 cup dry sherry, dry white wine, or more fat-skimmed beef broth
    6 cups packed peeled hot cooked potatoes (see notes)
    2 to 3 tablespoons butter
  1/2 cup cream cheese, at room temperature
  1/2 cup shredded Gruyere, Swiss, or parmesan cheese (about 2 1/2 oz.)

1. In a bowl, combine ground beef, parsley, mustard, flour, egg, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and V2 cup beef broth. Blend well with a fork.

2. In a 4- to 5-quart pan over high heat, bring brown onion gravy to a boil; add sherry and reduce heat to maintain a gentle simmer. Quickly shape beef mixture into 1-inch balls and drop into gravy. When all are in, cover and simmer until meathalls are no longer pink in the center (cut to test), 10 to 12 minutes. With a slotted spoon, transfer meatballs (some of the onions will come too) to a bowl.

3. Boil gravy over high heat, stirring often, until reduced to about 2 cups, 10 to 15 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Remove from heat and return meatballs and any accumulated juice to gravy; mix gently.

4. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, with a mixer or potato masher, mash potatoes with 2 to 3 tablespoons butter and the cream cheese until smooth. If desired, add just enough beef broth to moisten potatoes to be able to squeeze them through a pastry bag. Beat in the Gruyere cheese and add salt and pepper to taste.

5. Butter a shallow 3 1/2- to 4-quart casserole. Spread two-thirds of the potato mixture evenly over bottom and up sides. Spoon meatball-gravy mixture into the center. Spoon remaining potato mixture decoratively around edge of meatball mixture, or spoon it into a pastry bag with a 1-inch star or round tip and pipe around the edge.

6. Bake pie in a 400[degrees] oven until gravy is bubbling and potatoes are browned, 30 to 35 minutes.

Per serving: 758 cal., 51% (387 cal.) from fat; 34 g protein; 43 g fat (21 g sat.); 56 g carbo (4.6 g fiber); 639 mg sodium; 177 mg chol.

Brown onion gravy. Peel and finely chop 2 onions (8 oz. each). In a 4- to 5-quart pan over medium-high heat, stir onions in 2 tablespoons butter until richly browned, 13 to 15 minutes. Add 2 teaspoons sugar and stir for 2 minutes. Add 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour and stir until browned, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in 3 cups fat-skimmed beef broth. Return to high heat and stir until boiling.