According to Oxford Companion to Food, shepherd’s pie is a savoury dish of minced meat with a topping of mashed potatoes (now almost universal) or pastry (in Scotland in former times). In keeping with the name, that book, and a range of other sources, says that meat should be mutton or lamb.
It’s a dish that’s believed to originate from the north of England and Scotland, where those animals are reared. The name shepherd’s pie first began to appear in print in 1800s, although its believed people were making it further back than that.
Before meat-grinding machines were invented, making shepherd’s pie was originally a good way to chop up and use the leftover meat a family might have from a roast they cooked for a Sunday meal. Something you can, of course, still do.
According to the Oxford Companion to Food and, again, a range of other sources, a similar dish called cottage pie has also been made for eons, but it’s made with minced beef. The name “cottage” suggested that it was a folksy, rural dish.
In Canada, though, you don’t often see that named used. Here, as you’ll note when buying it ready to heat-and-eat from a food store, even when the dish is made with beef, it is labelled shepherd’s pie, not cottage pie.
Not sure when or why that started happening. But I’ll speculate and say it’s because shepherd’s pie is a much more recognizable name in Canada for that style of dish, no matter what type of meat is used.
But my beef-rich recipe is, indeed, called cottage pie. It yields four servings and has a very flavourful ground beef mixture, strewn with vegetables. The beef mixture is topped with mashed potatoes that I mixed tangy cheddar cheese into. When baked and golden on top, you have a very comforting dish that would be nice to enjoy in a cosy country cottage.
Cottage Pie with Cheddar Mashed Potatoes
A highly seasoned ground beef/vegetable mixture, topped with cheddar-cheese-rich mashed potatoes, baked until hot, golden and delicious.
Preparation time: 60 minutes
Cooking time: about 70 minutes
Makes: four servings
2 lbs. russet (baking) or yellow-fleshed potatoes, peeled and quartered
500 grams lean ground beef
1/2 cup finely diced onion
1/2 cup grated carrot
1 large garlic clove, minced
1/2 tsp dried thyme
2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
2 Tbsp tomato paste
1 cup beef stock, plus more if needed
1/3 cup frozen corn kernels
1/3 cup frozen peas
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp hot prepared English mustard (I used Keen’s brand)
• salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1/2 cup milk
2 Tbsp soft butter
3/4 to 1 cup grated aged white cheddar cheese (about 75 to 100 grams)
1 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley (optional)
Put potatoes in a medium-sized pot and cover with two-inches of cold water. Set over medium, medium-high heat and bring to a simmer. Now lower heat as needed to maintain that simmer. Simmer potatoes until tender, about 20 minutes.
While potatoes simmer, place beef in a second medium pot and set over medium, medium-high heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the meat is cooked through and crumbly. Look in the pot and if there are still noticeable clumps of meat, use a potato masher to create a smooth meat mixture.
Set pot back over the heat. Add onion, carrot, garlic and thyme and cook and stir four to five minutes. Mix in the flour and tomato paste and cook and stir one to two minutes more. Slowly pour in the one-cup of stock. Mix in the corn, peas, Worcestershire sauce and mustard. Cook until beef mixture thickens, two to three minutes. Thin beef mixture with a bit more stock, if you prefer it to be saucier. Taste and season beef mixture with salt and pepper, and then remove from the heat.
Preheat oven to 350 F. Spread beef mixture into the bottom of an eight-inch square pan.
When potatoes are tender, drain well, and then thoroughly mash. Beat in the milk and butter. Now mix in the cheese and salt and pepper, to taste. Carefully spoon and evenly spread the potatoes on top of the beef mixture.
Bake this cottage pie in the middle of the oven 35 minutes, or until golden on top and bubbly on the sides (see Note). If desired, for a richer golden top, broil the cottage pie a minute or two. Let the cottage pie rest a few minutes, sprinkle with parsley, if using, and serve.
Note: When baking the cottage pie, put a sided baking sheet, with some water in it, on the oven rack below it, if it starts to bubble over the sides of the pan as it cooks
Eric Akis is the author of eight cookbooks. His columns appear in the Life section Wednesday and Sunday.
