Shepherd’s Pie; cold

The third night of the Leg of Lamb leftovers is a more traditional Shepherd’s Pie.

The recipe for the pie, like many old, homey, country recipes is both traditional and constantly changing. Every family will have ‘their’ recipe which, of course, is the only proper way to make it. Then someone moves, tastes change, marriages happen and the ingredients change.

As I cook with the seasons and use the vegetables from my potager I have butternut squash in mine. Most would have carrots. Use any vegetable you like.

For those who don’t know, or have forgotten, a Shepherd’s Pie is made with lamb, a Cottage Pie is made with beef and, if it’s fish, it’s a Fishermen’s Pie. If it’s pork…. no one knows what it’s called. I’ve read multiple opinions on it – everything from a simple Pork Pie to Sty Pie.

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Shepherd’s Pie

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Traditionally made with leftovers from the ‘Sunday Roast’ I only had leftover lamb. Everything else was cooked before assembling. You could cook the lamb with the onions if you don’t have leftovers.

• Author: Katie
• Prep Time: 10 minutes
• Cook Time: 45
• Total Time: 55 minutes
• Category: Pie

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 10oz (300gr) leftover lamb, cut into bite-size pieces (about 3 cups)
• 10oz (300gr) butternut squash, cut into small pieces
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 rib celery, chopped
• 2 medium potatoes (10oz, 300gr), cut into large chubks
• 1/4 cup (2oz, 60ml) milk
• 1 cup (8oz, 240ml) chicken stock
• 2 tbs Dijon-Style mustard
• 1 tbs horseradish
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1 tbs Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tbs cornstarch (maizena) dissolved in 4 tbs water
• 1 tbs olive oil

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Instructions

• Cook potatoes in lightly salted water until tender, 15 – 20 minutes (covered).  
• Drain, add milk and smash with a fork or potato masher. 
• Heat oil in large nonstick skillet over medium heat. 
• Add onion, celery, butternut squash and sauté 6 – 8 minutes, until they start to get tender. 
• Add garlic, paprika, and sauté 5 minutes longer.
• Add stock, mustard, horseradish, Worcestershire, oregano, stir well and bring to a boil. 
• Cover, reduce heat and let simmer for 5 minutes.
• Add lamb to skillet and simmer 5 minutes longer.
• Add cornstarch mixture to skillet, stirring constantly until sauce is thickened. 
• Spoon into a baking dish.
• Spoon the mashed potatoes on top, covering as best you can.
• Bake, 400F (200C) until heated through and bubbly, about 20 minutes. 

Notes

I didn’t peel the potatoes and left them fairly chunky rather than a true mashed potato. I dropped by spoonful onto the top.

Proper planning would have extra vegetables cooked with the roast so the entire pie could be assembled quickly from leftovers.

I’m never that proper.

On another subject – Is it a universal law (that I am only recently aware of) that if something is going to break it has to be on the weekend?

Or a holiday?

Or a holiday weekend?

Last year our power lines and phone lines were taken out by a storm over Christmas.

We have only ever lost our internet on a Friday night…. never on a Tuesday.

Our dogs only get sick on Friday night or Saturday.

This time it was our furnace / boiler / chauffage…. whatever you want to call the equipment that provides heat to our house. It quit Saturday, late afternoon. No one will even come to look at it until Monday.

It’s winter.

It’s cold.

With the wood stove in the kitchen and the fireplace in the den we can keep the main floor relatively warm – I managed to get the temp all the way up to 16.5C (63F) today. The bedrooms upstairs are a wee bit on the chilly side, however. Apparently heat doesn’t rise quite as well as we’d hoped. I’m guessing it’s a cool 10C (50F) in our bedroom.

Good thing we have extra blankets !

Even Guapa is lying by the stove.