Gordon Ramsay's Shepherd's Pie

I have just recently discovered Shepherd’s pie. Growing up chicken pot pie was much more of a common thing for me, but when I discovered that there is something similar but with mashed potatoes, holy cow. I have tried a few different versions, but then one day I saw Gordon Ramsay make his Shepherd’s pie and thought that is the one for me.  I hadn’t ever had lamb before; I can’t eat beef or pork because they don’t agree with me so I pretty much just steered clear of all meats other than chicken and turkey because I knew those were ok.  But when I saw Chef Ramsay’s Shepherd’s pie with lamb, I thought well maybe I will just try it and see how it goes, and thank goodness it went well because oh man I am hooked.

1 package lamb chunks (0.88 lbs) or 1 lb ground lamb (I like the chunks but use whatever you like)

1 onion, diced

4 cloves garlic, minced

3 carrots, diced

¼ cup peas

2 tsp thyme

2 tsp rosemary

¼ cup red wine

¼ cup chicken stock

6 oz tomato paste

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

Olive oil

2 lbs Yukon gold potatoes

3 tbs butter

½ cup milk

¼ cup parmesan cheese

Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 400 F.

Cook the potatoes in boiling water until soft enough to mash.

Heat one turn of olive oil in a large skillet or a dutch oven.   Season the lamb with salt and pepper and cook until browned on all sides, stirring constantly.  Once the meat is browned remove it to a plate.  Add the onion and garlic and cook until the onion begins to brown.  There should be a sufficient amount of grease in the pan from the lamb but if not add more olive oil to cook the onions.  Add the seasoning, peas, and carrots and return the meat to the skillet. Mix well to coat the vegetables with the seasonings then add the Worcestershire sauce and continue to stir.  Add the tomato paste and wine and stir, add the stock and stir.  Allow to cook for ~3 minutes to boil off some of the liquid and cook the vegetables then remove from the heat.  If using a skillet transfer the lamb mixture to a casserole dish.

For the mashed potatoes, mash the potatoes with the milk and butter.  The potatoes should be light and fluffy.  This will be better achieved with the Yukon gold potatoes than with russet potatoes.  Chef Ramsay adds 2 egg yolks to the potatoes and I have tried it with and without the eggs and I see no difference other than extra calories, but if the eggless potatoes are lacking to you feel free to add them.  Season the potatoes with salt and pepper to taste.  Top the lamb mixture with the potatoes and spread over the top so there are peaks in the potatoes and they cover the entire dish.  Top the potatoes with the parmesan cheese and bake for 20 minutes to set the pie.  Allow to rest a few minutes before serving, it’s hot.

4 Servings, 580 calories, 20 g fat

I have seen a few recipes online that claim to be Gordon Ramsay’s Shepherd’s pie and they are all different, so I don’t know how close this is to his real recipe, but I think it’s pretty dang good so I stick with this one.

I am not a big wine drinker, especially red, but I really like to cook with it.  The flavor of this sauce with the lamb is just amazing.  I don’t know how anyone could eat this and not have a huge crush on Gordon Ramsay, he is amazing, and that’s not even considering his awesome hair!