Shepherd’s Pie

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When winter arrives, all you need is comfort food – food that can be put together easily but is so good to settle down your coldness and hunger too! Winter in UAE is never so cold that you get a chill on your spine. I love winters here, since you can move out in your normal clothing plus a Kashmiri shawl or a thin sweater. The days are short, the nights are long and it all feels cozy outside. Even though you always feel hungry, food tastes the best during this time, as water won’t interrupt frequently! 😀 Last year, we had pretty decent showers so this year we have to wait and see what is there in store for us, InShaAllah…

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The second one in line of 3 back-to-back potato recipes after the Chicken Potato Salad, is the Shepherd’s Pie. This recipe is just as good as the delicious Fish Potato Pie I shared a couple of months ago. Reading through a few articles I was searching through Google, a Shepherd’s Pie is usually made with lamb meat and vegetables which are available in season. It is said that it used to be covered with puff pastry and later on it became potato as topping. Since lamb meat is not readily available here, I have used mutton mince. If you use beef mince, then the name becomes “cottage pie”. It seems it is because normally shepherds tend to lamb and that’s why the name arouse. 😀 When we try digging into history of food stuff, it sounds really interesting, right? 🙂

All in all, this is such a comforting meal. If you love baked meals, then this is one. It is easy to put together and does not need anything more to go with it. It is perfect for a cozy winter dinner or even lunch… Alhamdulillah, the kids and the men enjoyed this meal to the core, even asking me to make this more often. Maybe with the winter reeling and as soon as I get off my vegetarian diet, I will most probably repeat it again, InShaAllah… Yes, I don’t like depriving myself, I am selfish! 😉 Before moving onto the recipe, you can check out this amazing Chicken Vegetable Pot Pie, which is as comforting as this one, but just needs some puff pasty in your pantry. Off to the recipe…

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5 from 2 votes

Shepherd's Pie

Course Meat

Cuisine British

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes minutes

Total Time 45 minutes minutes

Servings 4 -6

Author Rafeeda

Ingredients

• 50 gm butter divided
• 2 bay leaf
• 1 onion minced
• 2 carrots chopped to small pieces
• 400 gm mutton mince
• 1/2 cup frozen green peas
• 1/2 cup frozen sweet corn
• 1 tsp paprika powder
• 1/2 tsp dried parsley
• 1/2 tsp dried basil
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 2 vegetable stock cubes
• 1/2 cup water
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 750 gm potatoes boiled and peeled
• 1/2 tsp dried rosemary

Instructions

• Heat half the butter in the saucepan and add the bay leaf. Add the onion and carrots and saute till wilted.
• Add the mince meat and cook for five minutes.
• Add the ingredients from green peas to salt and pepper and cook till the meat is done. Discard the bay leaf.
• Mash the potatoes while hot. Add in the remaining butter, salt and pepper and mix well.
• Preheat oven to 180 degrees.
• In a glass dish, spread the mince meat mixture.
• Top with the mashed potato and press down. Sprinkle the rosemary all over.
• Bake for 30 minutes till the top is browned. Serve warm.

Notes

You can sprinkle some mozarella cheese on top to make it more rich.
If you feel your base is more dry, add more water.
You can substitute stock + water with homemade or store-bought stock in equal quantity.