The first version I learned to make was a layer of meat in white gravy, a thick layer of mashed potatoes, and a layer of cheese and peas on top. After ordering it at various restaurants and being disappointed, I've experimented with several versions until settling on this one. It's a little laborious, but it makes 6-8 servings and will freeze really well.
During my foray into veganism for the early part of this year, I concocted a fantastic vegan version which is definitely on the healthier side in case you'd prefer that. I'll include that recipe at the end.
Shepherd's Pie can be broken down into three steps: Potatoes, Veggies, Meat.
I usually put the potatoes on to boil first. Make sure you start with cold water and let the potatoes heat up in the water so they cook evenly.
While they boil, you can start the gravy. My grandma would actually start gravy this way for Thanksgiving, it helps to get rid of the raw flour flavor before you add it into the liquid. Dump some flour into a dry pan over medium heat and stir frequently until the flour turns light brown.
Set this aside, we'll use it for gravy once the meat and veggies are done cooking. Your potatoes are probably still boiling by this point, so start the veggies. Saute onions, until they are deep brown and super flavorful before adding the rest of the chopped ingredients
Cook everything down for another seven minutes or so until all the veggies are mostly cooked through. Set those aside and dump some ground turkey into the pan to brown
Once the turkey is crumbled and brown, it should look like this
Once that's done, you can toss with the veggies and let it sit while you finish the gravy
For the gravy, melt two two tablespoons of butter with a tablespoon of olive oil. Saute mushrooms and onions and garlic in this for 7-10 minutes until hey start to brown. Add in half of the flour to start with and whisk furiously before adding in the stock.
Let it come to a boil and if you need to thicken the gravy more, whisk a few tablespoons of water with some of the remaining flour until its pasty before adding into the gravy. This will make sure you don't end up with big hunks of flour at the end.
When you're happy with the consistency, let the gravy simmer while you mash the potatoes. I know it sounds fattening, but a couple tablespoons of mayonnaise mixed in with butter and milk will make your potatoes amazing. AMAZING.
Once your potatoes are mashed, you're ready to assemble the pie. Dump the meat and veggie mixture into a 9x13 baking dish and stir in the gravy.
Top with a layer of mashed potatoes and sprinkle the top with whatever spices you might want to add. I happened to have some smoked paprika, which worked pretty well.
Turkey Shepherd's Pie
1 lb ground turkey (beef is fine too)
2 lbs potatoes (Yukon Golds are awesome)
1 large onion diced, divided
3 carrots, diced
1 cup fresh green beans, chopped
1 zucchini, chopped
1 yellow squash, chopped
2 cups of mushrooms, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
4 cloves minced garlic
1 cup of flour
2-3 cups chicken stock
2 tablespoons mayonaise
1/4-1/2 cup milk
4 tablespoons butter, divided
**Note - to make this recipe a lot easier, you can just buy a frozen package of mixed vegetables (peas, carrots, corn, green beans etc.) instead of buying carrots, squash, bell pepper.
First, peel and chop the potatoes before putting them on to boil. In the meantime, heat the flour in a dry pan, stirring frequently, until browned. Remove from heat and set aside.
While the potatoes are still boiling, saute 3/4 of the diced onion in some olive oil over medium heat. Once it's beginning to brown, add 3 cloves of the minced garlic, and the rest of the diced veggies. Saute over medium-high heat until mostly cooked through.
Once your potatoes are done, drain and mash with mayo, 2 tablespoons of the butter, and as much milk as you need. Make sure to season with salt and pepper.
Now, finish your gravy. Saute remainder of onions with mushrooms and garlic over medium-high heat in remaining 2 tablespoons of butter and some olive oil. Whisk the toasted flour with the chicken stock until no lumps remain. Once the onions and mushrooms are browned, add the flour/stock mixture in a steady stream. You can thin this out with water, broth, or milk if it's too thick.
While gravy is simmering, brown the turkey in a pan, and add to the veggie mixture in a casserole dish. Pour the gravy over the meat and veggie mixture and stir to combine.
Spread the mashed potatoes over the mixture and top with whatever spices you'd like.
Bake the whole thing, covered in foil, at 375, removing the foil for the final 15 minutes of baking.
Vegan Shepherd's Pie
1 Cup Texturized Vegetable Protein (soaked in 1 cup veggie broth for 5 minutes)
or 1 pkg crumbled meat replacement
3 cups veggie broth
2 lbs potatoes
2 onions, diced, divided
3 carrots, diced
1 large leek (white and light green parts only)
1 cup fresh green beans, chopped
1 zucchini, chopped
1 yellow squash, chopped
2 cups of mushrooms, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
4 cloves minced garlic
1 cup of flour (all purpose GF flour works too)
4 tablespoons nutritional yeast
1/2 cup white wine (optional)
Soymilk (or whatever unsweetened milk substitute you use)
Earth Balance
Olive oil
**Note - you can replace carrots/green beans/zucchini/squash/bell pepper with a bag of frozen mixed vegetables. Also, nutritional yeast is usually in a health foods store, but you can omit
First, peel, chop, and boil potatoes.
While the potatoes are boiling, saute one of the diced onions over medium heat until it begins to brown. Add the rest of the veggies and 3 cloves of the minced garlic. Saute for 5-6 minutes, and add in the TVP or meat replacement crumbles and remove from heat.
When your potatoes are done, drain and mash with Earth Balance, soy milk or whatever milk-substitute you use, and salt and pepper.
Next, toast 1 cup of flour in a dry pan over medium heat until it turns brown. Remove from heat and set aside.
Saute mushrooms, remaining onion, garlic and sliced leek in some Earth Balance. Make sure to cook this down until the mushrooms are really beginning to brown, this will give you awesome tasting gravy! It should take up to ten minutes on medium heat. Also make sure you have enough Earth Balance & Olive oil in the pan to keep things from sticking. If you are using the wine, pour it in when the mushrooms are done browning and let it cook down for another minute.
In a bowl, whisk the toasted flour and 2 cups of the veggie broth until there are no more lumps. Gradually whisk into the mushroom/onion mixture until it's the right consistency. Use the remaining broth if it's too thick. Simmer on low for 5 minutes.
To assemble the pie, dump the veggie/TVP mixture into a baking sheet and stir in gravy. if you have the nutritional yeast, sprinkle it over the mixture before spreading on the mashed potatoes. Sprinkle the top with whatever spices you'd like and bake, covered with foil, at 375 for 35 minutes. Take the foil off for the final 15 minutes.
