I tried making Ina Garten's recipe for shepherd's pie.
The meal was easy to prepare and was large enough to feed a whole family.
The pie's filling was flavorful and savory, while the mashed potatoes were perfectly creamy.
I'm an Irish-American, but I didn't grow up ever eating shepherd's pie.
The dish is traditional to Ireland and dates back to the late 1700s when peasant wives would make the dish to reuse leftovers from the week's Sunday roast dinner, according to Britannica.
However, shepherd's pie has certainly made its way stateside. While Irish versions typically favor using lamb, many American versions use ground beef or turkey instead.
I decided to try making Ina Garten's recipe for shepherd's pie, which calls for ingredients like carrots, celery, white button mushrooms, ground turkey, and homemade mashed potatoes.
I started by peeling my Yukon gold potatoes.
A bag of potatoes typically weighs around 5 pounds, but the recipe only called for 3 pounds of potatoes. I found, in the end, that this was the perfect amount to fully cover the pie.
I then chopped the potatoes into 1-inch cubes and placed them in a pot with water.
I then simmered the potatoes until they were tender. This took about 20 minutes.
I used a time-saving hack to prepare my vegetables.
The recipe called for finely diced carrots, celery, and white button mushrooms. I decided to use a food processor to easily chop up my vegetables. I liked the end result and found this was the simplest way to prepare all the vegetables in seconds.
I also hand-chopped some mushrooms to add more texture.
After my vegetables were chopped, I set them aside in a small bowl and turned my attention towards cooking the meat.
The recipe calls for 1.5 pounds of ground turkey meat, but you can get creative if you don't want to use turkey.
You can use practically any kind of ground meat you would like, or even plant-based ground meat if you're vegetarian. I ended up liking the choice of ground turkey since it made the very stick-to-your-bones meal a little bit lighter than if I had used meat with higher fat content.
I ended up using a package and a half of ground turkey.
While the turkey cooked, I crumbled it into small pieces with a wooden spoon. Once the meat was fully cooked, I removed it from the pan with a slotted metal spoon and left behind the fat in the pan.
The recipe also called for diced onion.
I chopped it using the food processor again and added it to the pan.
I started to sauté the onion, and it filled my kitchen with a delicious aroma. There should be enough fat in the pan from the turkey to sauté the onion, but you can also add olive oil or butter if you don't have enough liquid.
I then added the other vegetables and cooked them down until they were perfectly combined and soft.
I also added flour to the pan, which created a paste-like combination.
I then added chicken broth and cooked the mixture until it was fully combined and some of the liquid had evaporated.
I also added in tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, bay leaf, rosemary, thyme, and frozen peas to the pan and continued cooking the filling until it reached a simmer.
After stirring in the turkey, the mixture was really starting to resemble what I knew as the filling of shepherd's pie.
I removed the bay leaves and herb sprigs before seasoning the mixture to taste and setting it aside.
After I had finished the pie filling, I started getting my potatoes ready for baking.
After draining the potatoes, I hand-mashed them in the same pot I cooked them in. The recipe called for using a hand mixer, but I found a potato masher to be just as effective at making creamy mashed potatoes, especially after adding in a mixture of whole milk, almost a stick of Kerry Gold butter, and sour cream.
The potatoes turned out perfectly creamy.
I seasoned them to taste and set them aside. I then preheated my oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
I added the pie filling to a large casserole dish and used a spoon to create an even layer of the meat and vegetables.
There was a perfect amount of filling to create a thick layer.
I then spread the creamy mashed potatoes over the filling, making sure to get it up to the edges of the pan.
Despite never having made this dish before, I found the process easy to follow and not overwhelming at all. I also had a spoonful of mashed potatoes left over to taste and thought they were delicious.
I wanted to have a deep-golden crust on the mashed potatoes, so I let the pie cook a bit longer than the recipe suggested.
I cooked the pie in the oven for about half an hour, although the recipe suggested it would be done after 20 minutes.
All ovens can vary slightly different with cook time, so I would suggest checking on the dish until you're happy with the result.
When I served the pie, it was piping hot and delicious. I would definitely make this recipe again during the fall or winter.
It didn't quite hold its shape, but I imagine it would have if I had let the pie sit for a minute or two before I served it. However, I simply couldn't resist diving in.
The mashed potatoes were creamy, the filling was perfectly seasoned, and the vegetables all came through in a medley of flavors. It was simple enough to be convenient for a fall or winter weeknight meal, yet impressive enough for a dinner party or even gameday.
The recipe also made enough to feed at least four people, with plenty of leftovers. In my book, this traditional recipe got a thumbs up.
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