My Sheppard's Pie

Here’s a version of Sheppard’s Pie that I cooked for Mother’s day. I was satisfied with the outcome, so I thought I would share it here. Some measurements in this recipe are approximations as I did not measure anything prior to cooking.

Here’s a pic of the ingredients. I did not use the liquid aminos and opted instead for Better than Bullion Roasted Beef Base. Also missing from the picture is Wondra and fresh rosemary, but that will show up later. First, I procured all of my ingredients and cut my mire poix. I don’t do a traditional 2-1-1 mire poix because I feel too many carrots can make the dish taste sweet. My mire poix is more like 2-1½-½ onion-celery-carrot. I also add plenty of garlic. This recipe uses basic braising techniques, sear the meat, sweat the veg, deglaze with booze, singer with flour, add the liquid, & cook everything together until done.



Ingredients and their approximate measures:
For the Meat:
#3 ground lamb
1 cup onions
¾ cup celery
½ cup carrots
1T garlic
½ cup dry Sherry
2T Better than Bullion Roasted Beef Base
2c water
1T Lea & Perrins
2T Rosemary
2T Salt
1T Black Pepper

For the Potatoes:
#4 Russet potatoes
2c milk
4oz butter
2T truffle salt
1t white pepper
4oz Irish white cheddar cheese, plus extra for the topping

After mise en place, I start this recipe by searing the ground lamb. I like to make a big flat patty out of each pound and sear it like a hamburger. This allows the meat to get really nice and browned.


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I work in batches searing, browning, & breaking up the ground lamb until I have it all in the pan. This is time consuming but the results are very rewarding. Just make sure to allow the pan to recover some heat before adding more meat and don’t over crowd your pan. Once all the meat is nicely browned and broken up, I make a meat donut in the pan to allow any excess moisture to evaporate. I added about 1 TBS of chopped rosemary to season the lamb before the next step.




The beauty of the meat donut is that it provides an audible indicator that all of the liquid has evaporated. Once you hear the meat begin to sizzle, let it brown a little bit more before adding the mire poix. I do not drain off any of the excess fat l because I like to cook the veg in it and the fat will be used as part of the roux in a later step. In goes the celery, carrot, onions, and garlic. I don’t worry about the garlic burning because there is plenty of moisture in the pan and I am babysitting the dish as the veg cooks.



Once the onions have cleared, deglaze with the dry Sherry and allow it to evaporate. Again, the meat will begin to sizzle to let you know the liquid and alcohol have vaporized.



Next we need to make a roux to thicken the sauce. Sprinkle enough Wondra flour over the meat and begin to cook it in the fat. The amount of fat will dictate how much Wondra you add. This may take multiple additions until all of the fat is absorbed by the flour. Pay close attention as the flour will begin to stick and create a film on the bottom of the pan. It’s important to scrape and stir it back into the meat. Cook another 5-7 minutes, just to get rid of the rawness of the flour.




Just before the next step, I added another 1T or so of rosemary to the pan just to release the oils. While the meat is browning and the veg is sweating, I dissolved the beef base in the water and added the Lea & Perrins to it. Next, deglaze the pan with the liquid beef base mixture, making sure to scrape the bottom of the pan to release the fond. Continue to cook and stir until the liquid begins to boil. Lower the heat to a simmer and cook 3-5 minutes just to make sure everything is incorporated. Turn off the heat and add frozen peas before transferring everything to an oven proof baking dish. I used a 3 liter Pyrex Dish (33x23x5cm). Not sure why the pyrex dish had metric measurements but… I put this in the fridge for a couple of hours to cool. This is not a necessary step but I like to let the meat and starches gelatinize a little before baking.



For the mashed potatoes, I steam the potatoes whole then peel, mash, pass through a fine mesh sieve and add them to the warmed milk and melted butter. Season them well with the truffle salt & white pepper then set aside. I made mine the day before to make my life easier. Just make sure to check the seasoning and whip the cold potatoes to break them up a bit and incorporate the cheese. Make sure to add a little more cheese to the top of the pie before baking. I also added fresh ground black pepper because when I tasted the potato topping again it lacked a little.



Here you can see the meat to potato ratio in the side view. I added a little chopped parsley to the top after baking.





The family really enjoyed this concoction. One thing I would change is, instead of just frozen peas, I would sub frozen peas and carrots. Cheers!

(edited to add last pic)