Classic Cottage Pie | Shepherd’s Pie | The Ultimate Comfort Food

It’s time for some of my Fall favorites! What better way to start off than with this classic Cottage Pie, also known as Shepherd’s Pie. The difference between the two depends on what type of meat is used. The dish is called cottage pie if you’re using ground beef. If ground lamb is the meat of choice, the dish is referred to as being a shepherd’s pie.

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Ingredients:
For the meat filling –
1 lb ground beef or lamb
1 large white onion, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 carrots, peeled and diced
1 cup frozen peas
1 cup beef broth
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp worcestershire sauce
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried rosemary
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 tbsp of salted butter or olive oil

For the mashed potatoes –
4 large russet potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
1/2 cup whole milk
1/4 cup butter
2 tbsp cream cheese
1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
To a pot on the stove, add in the cubed potatoes and cover with water. Bring the pot to a boil and let cook until the potatoes are fork tender. Time will depend on the size of the cubes. The bigger the cubes, the longer the cook time. Once your potatoes are fork tender, remove from heat and carefully drain off the water. Add in all of the mashed potato ingredients and mash with a potato masher until smooth and creamy. Set that off to the side and make the meat filling.

To make the meat filling, to a pan on the stove over medium heat, we’re going to cook up the ground meat until it’s no longer pink. Then drain off any excess fat and set the meat off to the side. To the empty pan, add in the butter and carrots. Let the carrots cook for about 2-3 minutes before adding in the onions. Let the onions cook for about 2-3 minutes, then add in the thyme, rosemary, salt and pepper. Add in the garlic. Next add in the tomato paste, worcestershire sauce and ground beef. Add in the beef broth, mix until combined, turn down the heat and let that simmer for about a minute or two. Add in the frozen peas and let the dish cook for about five minutes.

To assemble the dish, grab a 9×13 inch baking dish and dump in the meat filling. Evenly spread the filling out and then top the filling with an even thick layer of the mashed potatoes. It’s not required, but I like to take a fork and sort of score the top of the mashed potatoes creating peaks for a crispy top. Bake in a preheated oven uncovered 400 F degrees for 20 – 25 minutes or until the top is golden brown. Let the dish rest for 10 minutes before serving.
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Music by Epidemic Sound

Today we’re making cottage pie. Cottage pie is basically shephardd’s pie, but instead of using lamb, ground beef is used. That’s the only difference between a shephardd’s pie and a cottage pie is the type of meat used. To get started on this family favorite, we’re going to wash, peel, and cube up four large rusted potatoes. The smaller the cubes, the quicker the potatoes will cook. So, keep that in mind. Once they’re all cubed, we’re going to place them in a large pot on the stove covered in water. And we’re going to let them boil until they’re all done. To check if they’re done, grab a fork and pierce the potato. If the fork goes in easy, they’re done. If not, they may still need a few more minutes. Okay, into the pot they go. While we’re at it, let’s finish cutting up the rest of our vegetables. For this cottage pie, we’re going to need one large white onion, diced. Roughly two to three carrots, also diced. Peeling them is optional. I couldn’t care less, so I didn’t bother peeling mine. Also, to note, you can find a list of ingredients and directions posted down below in the video’s description box for your convenience. The recipe also calls for two cloves of garlic. I’m a big fan of garlic, so I’m going to sneak in a few more cloves. With our vegetables now chopped, we’re going to take them over to the stove. And while we’re there, check on the potatoes. Well, these look ready, but just to be sure, I’m going to grab a fork to see if they really are fork tender. Yes, they are. Carefully take your pot of potatoes over to the sink and drain off the water. Okay, now to make our mashed potatoes rich and creamy, we’re going to add in a few ingredients. In goes 2 tablespoons of cream cheese, 1/4 cup of butter, half a cup of shredded cheese. I’m using a fiesta blend here, but straight up just cheddar cheese works too. Half a cup of milk, a splash of heavy cream, 1 teaspoon of salt. I’m using pink Himalayan salt, but regular salt is totally fine, too. And lastly, 1 teaspoon of black pepper. Grab your potato masher and mash everything together. And now would be the perfect time to taste test your mashed potatoes. If you think they need more of anything, go ahead and add that in. More salt or more pepper, you be the judge. I do believe I ended up adding in the rest of my shredded cheese. There wasn’t much left in the bag anyway, so might as well. All right, this looks perfect. Let’s set this off to the side while we work on the rest of our dish. To a large pan, we need one pound of ground beef or lamb. I also added in a small pouch of salted butter. That’s not required. That’s just me wanting to cook my ground beef in a little bit of butter. We’re going to let this cook over mediumigh heat until it’s no longer pink. It’s been a few minutes and as you can see, we’ve got some fat to drain off. So, let’s go ahead and do that. With our pan now empty, our ground beef is sitting on the counter over there. To the pan, we need two tablespoons of butter. I started out with one tablespoon and added in the second one later. In goes our diced carrots. These are going to take a little bit longer to cook than everything else, so they need a little bit of a head start. This looks good. Next, toss in the diced onions. Same thing, the onions are going to take a little bit longer to cook than the garlic, so we’re going to hold off on adding in the garlic. In the meantime, we’re going to toss in our herbs. We need 1 teaspoon of dried thyme, 1 teaspoon of dried rosemary, 1 teaspoon of salt and pepper. As a side note, you probably just noticed that I doubled the herbs in the pan. This is a personal preference. I really, really like the flavors in this dish. So, when I make this recipe, I always double the herbs for that punch of flavor. It’s definitely a lot stronger, but for this dish, that’s just how my family likes it. If this is your first time making this dish, I would highly suggest sticking to the recommended amounts. You can always change it up later and add in more next time. All right, we’re going to mix this together until everything is nice and coated. Then, we’re going to add in our garlic and let that cook for a few minutes, about 2 to 3 minutes. Next, we need 2 Tbsp of tomato paste, 1 tbsp of worst sauce. Mix that up and add in the drained ground beef. Give everything a quick mix. Next, we need one cup of beef broth. We’re going to turn down the heat and let this simmer for about a minute or two. Lastly, we need one cup of frozen peas. If you’re like me and you’re a big fan of peas, we’re just going to look the other way as we dump the whole bag of peas in. Whoopsies. In my opinion, you can’t have too many peas. It’s just good stuff. Why short change yourself, you know? Let this cook for about 5 minutes and then it’s time to assemble our comfort dish. I’ll tell you one thing, anytime I make this dish, my entire house smells amazing and I just love that. To assemble our cottage pie, we need a 9 by13in baking dish. Today, we’ll be using this pretty one that’s normally reserved for holiday cooking, but for you, we shall use it today. Dump in all of our meat filling, spreading it out evenly. Next goes our mashed potatoes. We’re going to top the meat with our delicious mashed potatoes. Another thing I love about this dish is while it’s in the oven, the liquid from below is going to end up bubbling up the sides and spilling out onto the edges of the mashed potatoes. And of course, the mashed potatoes are just going to soak up that incredible flavor. This part is optional, but I like to take a fork and create these little lines for a crispy top. And this, of course, is totally optional. All right, into a preheated oven at 400° for 20 to 25 minutes. It’s been 25 minutes, and just look at those edges. See how the juices bubbled up? It looks so good. Okay, here’s the hard part. Letting your dish rest for 10 minutes before diving in. Letting it rest gives it a chance to set so when you go to scoop your portion, it holds its shape a bit better. Of course, if you just can’t wait and don’t care what it looks like on your plate, then by all means, go for it. Let me tell you, that’s comfort food in the bowl right there. So good. If you have any questions, let me know in the comments section, and I’ll do my best to answer them to the best of my knowledge. Thanks for watching, and if you like this video, be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss out. And I’ll see you all in the next video.