Gordon Ramsay's shepherd's pie is a great baseline shepherd's pie to begin with. The ground meat filling is so robust and savory with a mashed potatoes topping that is baked to perfection.
1cup red wineget a bottle that is cheap and dry enough to cook with, but good enough to drink the rest.
6oztomato paste
Potato Mash
6mediumpotatoes
1/2cupwhole milk
8tbspmelted butter
2wholeegg yolks
5ozfresh grated parmesan
1tspgranulated garlicoptional
2tspsaltnot needed if using garlic salt
1tsppepper
Instructions
Peel and chop your potatoes into about 1 inch cubes
Throw them in a pot and fill water till it's about 2 inches higher than your potatoes and bring the water to a boil; about 20-30 minutes.
In a cast iron skillet on medium heat, begin browning your meat
While the meat is browning, mince the thyme and rosemary and garlic. Preheat your oven at 425 at this point as well.
Once your meat is browned (about 5 minutes or so) drain as much juice as possible. The key to a good Shepherd's pie is keeping the grease down to a minimum.
Grate your onion and carrot into the mince. and stir and cook on medium for about 2 minutes.
Stir in your tomato paste, garlic, Worcestershire sauce; about 1 minute.
Add red wine, fresh thyme, rosemary, salt and pepper. Let this cook down for about 2 minutes.
Add the chicken stock and let this cook down for about 15 minutes. You should have reduced the volume by about 50 percent(ish)
While the mince is cooking down, your potatoes should be ready. Check with a fork, it should easily go through without any resistance. Drain and place in a bowl.
Mash the potatoes, then add egg, butter. Add milk in about 1/4 cup at a time until its at the right consistency.
Mix in about 4 oz of freshly grated Parmesan, granulated garlic, salt and pepper
You should have a super thick potato mash. This is important because it helps with spreading, and will make for a better pie.
Note: If i know the whole batch is going in 1 meal i'll keep this in a cast iron skillet. It looks a lot more authentic to me in a skillet.
With a spatula, spread the potato mash evenly across the skillet covering all your mince. Then, with a fork, fluff the top of the potatoes, and top with the remaining Parmesan. This will give you golden brown bits on top!
Bake for about 15 minute, or until the mash is a beautiful golden brown. Enjoy!