Dishes from Around the World

Sheppard's/Cottage Pie (British and French)

Have you ever come home after a long day of school or work and wanted a nice and warm meal but didn't want to work too hard to make it? Well Sheppard's Pie is one of the better dishes that is easy to make and doesn't require much skill to do so! Sheppard's Pie isn't really a pie, but more of a casserole. It is a casserole that is pretty much either ground lamb or mutton mixed with a tomato-based slurry, most commonly tomato paste and Worcestershire sauce and a broth with additional seasonings. It is then topped with a mashed potatoes and baked until crispy; can also top the potatoes with a puff pastry or cheese.

Sheppard's Pie vs. Cottage Pie

Sheppard's pie and Cottage pie are almost identical. The only difference is that Sheppard's pie is filled with leftover roast, lamb or mutton, while Cottage pie is filled with ground beef. Cottage pie is actually the mother dish to Sheppard's pie, meaning that Cottage pie is older than Sheppard's pie. They both are pretty much the same, having cooked vegetables like onions, carrots, celery, mushrooms and peas along with ground beef or lamb with tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, and either beef or chicken broth.

Assembly

I have never made Sheppard's pie unfortunately because I have never been able to get lamb or mutton, but I have made a lot of Cottage pie, so I will tell you about my process on how I do it and you can decide if it is a easy recipe or a to complicated one. 

The first thing I do is start to boil my potatoes until they become fork tender or have no resistance when stabbed with a fork. Drain the pot and the I set them aside and turn the oven on to 375 F. I then dice up onions, carrots, and celery until they are tiny cubes and sauté them with ground beef and minced garlic. After the ground beef is cooked and the veggies are softened, I add my tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce and beef broth and let simmer until thickened. I then add frozen peas along with thyme and cook a little longer until the peas are unfrozen. I then go back to my potatoes and mash them with butter and milk. After I then layer them meat and potatoes in a casserole dish with meat first then potatoes. I then put it into the oven until the mahed potatoes is golden brown on the top. Take out, let cool, then serve!