Shepherd’s pie is one of those comfort dishes that comes together easily and is great from scratch or just for using leftovers in the refrigerator. In this recipe I’m only using corn as the vegetable, but this recipe is so adaptable that you could add any spare vegetables that you have so they don’t go to waste. The other benefit to this delicious meal? It reheats well, making it the perfect dish to prepare for a few meals in a row if you have a busy week coming up.
Servings: 4 Portions
Calories: 692kcal
Ingredients
Corn Filling
- 2 ears corn shucked
- ¼ tsp cayenne pepper
- ¼ tsp garlic powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp pepper freshly ground
- cooking spray or 1 tsp olive oil
Potatoes
- 2 lbs Russet potatoes (about 3 medium potatoes)
- 1½ tsp salt
- 4 oz milk or cream
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter
- ½ tsp pepper freshly ground
- 3 cloves garlic crushed
- 4 dashes Tabasco
Ground Beef Filling
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 4 cloves garlic finely chopped
- ½ med yellow onion finely chopped
- 2 tbsp shallots finely chopped
- 1½ tsp crushed red pepper
- 1½ lb 90% lean ground beef
- 1 tsp salt
- 1½ tsp pepper freshly ground
- 3 tsp fresh rosemary finely chopped
- 4 tsp fresh sage (about 5 leaves) finely chopped
- 3 springs fresh thyme
- 2 tbsp all purpose flour
- 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 beef bouillon cube
- ½ cup water
Instructions
Corn Filling
- Preheat oven to 425°F. Place corn on a small sheet of aluminum foil, spraying each side of the corn with enough cooking spray that the spices will stick to it (you can also use a small amount of olive oil for this step). Sprinkle each piece of corn with the cayenne pepper, salt, and pepper. Wrap the corn in the foil and place in the oven for 15 minutes.
- Remove corn from the oven and let cool. Once it is cool enough to handle, cut corn off the cob and set aside. You should have about 1 cup of corn.
Potatoes
- While the corn is cooking, clean and peel the potatoes. Cut into evenly sized cubes, about ½ inch in size. Thoroughly rinse potatoes to remove any excess starch. Add to medium sized pot or saucepan and add water until potatoes are covered in about 1-1½ inches of water (approximately 5 cups of water). Add one tsp salt and 3 crushed garlic cloves to the water.
- On medium-high heat, bring potatoes to a boil. Once boiling, reduce to a simmer and cook for 12-14 minutes, until potatoes are tender and a fork will easily pierce through the potatoes. While potatoes are cooking stir every 5 minutes or so to make sure they don’t stick to the bottom of the pot.
- Once potatoes are cooked through, drain and return to pot or to a medium sized mixing bowl. Add milk or cream, butter, remaining salt, pepper, and Tabasco and mash well with a potato masher.
Ground Beef Filling
- Add oil to large saute pan on med-high heat. Let oil heat through, then add garlic, onion, shallots, and crushed red pepper. Let cook for 2-3 minutes, until onions start to become slightly translucent. Add ground beef, salt, pepper, rosemary, sage, and thyme.
- Once meat is almost cooked completely, drain any excess fat in the pan, then add 2 tbsp flour to the meat and mix well for 1-2 minutes, allowing the flour to be cooked slightly. Add bouillon cube, Worcester sauce, and ½ cup water and let simmer 2-3 minutes.
Assembling the Shepherd’s Pie
- Preheat oven to 400°F. In 8×8″ glass baking dish, add meat mixture to the bottom of the pan. Add corn and lay evenly over the meat mixture, then top with the potatoes. Add a little freshly ground pepper on top and put in the oven for 20 minutes, until the potatoes start to brown. Let cool for a few minutes and enjoy!
Notes
If you want to save a little time on this recipe, feel free to use frozen corn instead of fresh corn on the cob. While the fresh is better because of the flavor it gains by roasting with the spices, you can let it thaw out, season, then add to the middle layer of the shepherd’s pie.
Nutrition
Serving: 2cups | Calories: 692kcal | Carbohydrates: 50g | Protein: 41g | Fat: 27g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Cholesterol: 128mg | Sodium: 2008mg | Potassium: 1614mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 545IU | Vitamin C: 16.5mg | Calcium: 97mg | Iron: 6.5mg
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