You Can Never Go Wrong with Shepherd’s Pie

Shepherd’s pie is a filling dish made of minced lamb covered with a crust of mashed potatoes. Basically, this pie is simple fare, but there is more to this dish than meets the eye. While this dish is sometimes referred to as nursery fare, it is said that no less than Tory grandee and bestselling author Jeffrey Archer serves it with champagne when he holds receptions.

A Pie Steeped in History

Purists insist that you have to use lamb when you make this dish; if you use beef, what you get is cottage pie. Food historians believe the name shepherd’s pie appeared only in 1877, a few years after the invention of the mincing machine. Prior to that, chunks of meat may have been used as filling.

In British Food in America, an online magazine “dedicated to the discussion and revival of British foodways,” refers to Glyn Lloyd-Hughes’ narrative on the beginnings of shepherd’s pie. The article The Unexpected Origin of Shepherd’s Pie  says, “…He ascribes the origin of shepherds’ pie, routinely associated with England and ignored by nearly all Scottish authors for over four centuries, to a book from 1854. It is The Practice of Cookery and Pastry by a Mrs. I. Williamson and was printed in Edinburgh.

“According to the capsule history that Lloyd-Hughes has written, shepherds’ pie disappears before about 1920 when it begins to appear in USA cookbooks, sometimes with potato underneath, or the top only partly covered.” Lloyd-Hughes agrees with The Oxford English Dictionary that mention cannot be found in England of Shepherd’s Pie before the 1960s…”

Preparing Shepherd’s Pie

For all its simplicity, this dish that has been featured in the shows of at least four celebrity chefs. Martha Stewart’s Shepherd’s Pie calls for frozen vegetables and ground beef chuck. Her version includes instructions for cooking the pie a day before you serve it; “Make filling; spoon into baking dish. Spread potatoes over top, and let cool completely. Cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate up to 1 day. Preheat oven to 425 degrees; remove plastic wrap, and bake until potatoes are lightly browned, 30 to 40 minutes…”

Gordon Ramsey, on the other hand, uses cream and Parmesan cheese to make the potato topping of his shepherd’s pie special.  His recipe allows the use of either lamb or beef, and he uses chicken broth to cook the meat till it is tender enough for the pie. In How to Cook Gordon Ramsay’s Amazing English Shepherd Pie, Maor Ezer of Snap Guide says, “The Parmesan Cheese is very important. It gives the pie the beautiful golden brown crust on top.”

Not to be outdone, Rachel Ray of Food Network gives this pie a try and makes her thirty minute version of this popular dish. Her Thirty Minute Shepherd’s Pie includes butter, peas, a dash of Worcestershire sauce, and gravy. Ellie Krieger, also of Food network and the healthy eating advocate of cooking shows, uses lean ground beef, lots of onions, mushrooms, cauliflower, and low-fat milk to make her version of Shepherd’s Pie.

Pairing Shepherd’s Pie with Wine

In Matching Food ad Wine’s 5 Wine and Beer Pairings for Shepherd’s Pie, Fiona Beckett sticks to the concept that shepherd’s pie is “frugal fare”. Based on this, recommends English ale, stout or porter, red rioja, an inexpensive red Bordeaux, or a southern French red. Still, if you consider that Jeffrey Archer,  an internationally acclaimed author , chooses to serve it with champagne during receptions, you will see that shepherd’s pie is a proper treat for any occasion. If you want to serve something rich and cozy and simple enough to prepare a day before, you can’t go wrong with shepherd’s pie.