Lamb Shepherd’s Pie
This hearty and comforting Shepherd’s Pie featuring ground lamb is a dish you’ll want to add to your list of winter weeknight meals!
Let me start by saying the past 4 weeks have been absolutely crazy. I’m not sure how they could have passed by so quickly, but they did. You may have noticed I’ve been MIA from the blog (my apologies), but in order to keep my sanity, I had to put blogging aside momentarily. And oh, how I missed it! But now I’m back and I was so excited to get in the kitchen this weekend for an entire day of experimenting with new recipes, and I’m looking forward to hearing more from all of you 🙂
What better way to jump back in than with this month’s Recipe Redux challenge?! For December, we were challenged to “Grab a Book & Cook”. Since Recipe Redux has been around for 42 months (wow!), we were asked to find a recipe in a cookbook either on page 42 or 142 to use as inspiration. Rather than randomly selecting one of my cookbooks or going for one of my tried-and-true favorites, I chose a cookbook I received about a year ago from my friends/past co-workers as a parting gift, The Gathering of Friends, Volume Two.
Page 142 led me to Shepherd’s Pie. I’ve never made Shepherd’s Pie, but it seemed like the perfect dish to redux, especially since this recipe called for pre-packaged soup mix and multiple packets of brown gravy. Yikes. While this specific recipe used beef pot roast in the filling, I had this unrelenting desire to use ground lamb in my Shepherd’s Pie. Overall, this is a really simple dish to prepare and only takes about 45 minutes total to prepare. Removing the excess fat after cooking the lamb reduces the “lambiness” that many people find off-putting. This would make a wonderful holiday dish for those that are tired of seeing turkey and ham on the table. Gather your family and friends and share this healthier version of Shepherd’s Pie!
Ingredients
3 large Russet potatoes, peeled and cubed
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup 1% or 2% milk
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
3 tablespoons finely chopped chives
1/2 tablespoon olive oil
1 pound ground lamb
1/2 cup carrot, peeled and sliced thin
1/2 cup Vidalia onion, diced
1 clove garlic, finely minced
Salt and pepper to taste
1 cup vegetable broth
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup frozen peas
Smoked paprika
To see other RR members’ posts this month, click the blue frog link!
Sheperds pie is traditionally made with lamb. Sheperd – sheep.
Cottage pie is traditionally made with beef as people used to have a “house cow” near the house for milking. At some point that cottage cow was butchered and the meat used.
I’m a huge fan of lamb. It’s my favorite meat. I love Shepherd pie because even with all my numerous food allergies, I can make this in a way I can still eat it.
My son hates mashed potatoes though and I have issues with nightshades so I always used mashed cauliflower instead.
Thanks for sharing that history–I didn’t know all of that! I definitely want to try it with the mashed cauliflower as you suggested.
I love shepherd’s pie. This sounds great with lamb!
Thank you, Cindy!
I loved shepherd’s pie as a kid! I’m vegetarian now, and I’ve been meaning to make a vegetarian version forever!
I love the idea of a vegetarian version–please share if you make one!
I love, love, love lamb and shepherd’s pie. <3 This is an awesome combination! :D!
Thanks, Farrah! It’s super easy to make, too!
I’ve been meaning to try lamb. Seems like an excellent place to start! Pinning for later 🙂
Yes–it’s a great introductory recipe for cooking with lamb! Enjoy, and happy holidays 🙂