So my brother in law and I wanted to cook something this time. We were stumped on what we wanted to make but then it hit us, shepherd's pie. So I googled a typical shepherd's pie recipe and then we made it our own by changing it up a bit. The major change didn't happen until we were in Publix, specifically at the meat locker when we chose to go with ground Italian sausage rather than ground beef. We had already got Parmesan cheese for the mashed potatoes. If you look back at one of the first posts there is a Parmesan garlic mashed potato recipe that we used in this recipe too. For our first rodeo with shepherd's pie, this turned out really nice. The hardest part was thinking of the name, "Fat Tony's Cottage."
Ingredients:
1lb ground Italian sausage
1lb red potatoes
1 cup Parmesan cheese (fresh shredded)
1 cup white cheddar cheese (fresh shredded)
1/4 cup fresh chopped thyme
1/4 cup fresh chopped oregano
1/2 chopped Vidalia onion
1 cup fresh or frozen peas
4 cloves fresh chopped garlic
3/4 stick of real salted butter
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
Fresh ground black pepper to taste
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 egg yolk
About 2 tablespoons of flour
About 2 tablespoons of flour
Let's get started.
First you'll need to quarter your potatoes and get them boiling in a pot.
While the potatoes are cooking chop the onion, garlic, and herbs.
Once you have your herbs, onion and garlic chopped start heating a deep frying pan with 1/4 stick of butter.
Spread the butter all around and then add the onions, herbs and garlic.
Cook these until the onions have sweat (they should be translucent). Stir often.
Now add the peas and stir until the peas are cooked (about 3 minutes).
Preheat your oven to 400
Now add the sausage. Break it apart into smaller pieces.
Add the Worcestershire sauce.
Mix this with the rest of the pan and cook until browned thoroughly.
Add flour and mix well to thicken
Add flour and mix well to thicken
Add pepper as you like.
Potatoes should be ready to strain about halfway through the cooking of the meat layer.
Strain the potatoes and return to pot.
Add the Parmesan, heavy cream, and the rest of the butter (1/2 stick).
Mash the potatoes well.
Now add the egg yolk and mix that thoroughly. (very important ingredient as it is a binder for the potatoes).
Now get a square baking dish about 3 inches deep (typical Pyrex square dish).
Spread out the meat mix first, evenly across the dish.
Next spread out the mashed potatoes.
Top with one cup of fresh shredded white cheddar.
Bake for 25 minutes.
Taste: The sausage really sets it off along with the Parmesan and oregano flavoring really give it a nice cross culinary profile. A hearty delicious meal with elegance and explosion of flavor.
