Shepherds Pie inspired by my friend Jo

My friend Jo, Welsh cook extraordinaire, made a Shepherds Pie with a bit of leftover lamb. That had us wanting a Shepherds pie too so .....off we went to buy some ground lamb.




This particular recipe has been adapted from a Rachael Ray version. I went off course a bit but I did want to try another of her recipes. To this day, I receive the most hits on my Rachael Ray Mini Burgers post. It’s crazy – I made those in 2009 but it remains the most popular post on my site.

Anyhoo………..here’s what you need:

2 pounds potatoes, peeled and chunked (I used red creamers)
2 tablespoons sour cream or softened cream cheese
1 egg yolk
1/2 cup milk (for a lighter version substitute vegetable or chicken broth. For a richer version use cream)
Salt and black pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil,
1 ½ pounds ground lamb
1 carrot, chopped
1 onion, chopped
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup beef stock or broth
2 teaspoons Worcestershire saucet
1/2 cup frozen peas,
Sprinkle of paprika


Here’s what to do………

Boil potatoes in salted water until tender, about 12 minutes then drain. Toss the potato chunks into a bowl with sour cream, egg yolk and cream. Add the milk and mash until potatoes are almost smooth.

BUT, while the potatoes are on the boil you can get started on the lamb and veggie fry up. Heat a good sized skillet then add oil to hot pan with beef or lamb. Whichever one suits you – I wanted that lamb as soon as I heard Jo used lamb chunks.

Season meat with salt and pepper and brown about 4 minutes. Since I used ground lamb I drained off some of the fat before adding veggies.

Add chopped carrot and onion to the meat. Cook veggies with meat 5 minutes. I stirred it quite a bit as my stovetop runs extra hot (because it needs replacing….doesn’t work properly). Get out a saucepan and melt the butter, then add the flour. This is like making a béchamel sauce. Whisk in beef broth (or milk if you like) and Worcestershire sauce. This will thicken to a lovely gravy. Tip that gravy into the lamb mixture and combine well.

Stir in the peas and turn mixture into a casserole dish. Top with potatoes. I sprinkled paprika over the potatoes at this point.



In Rachael Ray’s recipe she preheats the broiler to high and shoves that casserole dish in for a few minutes until the potatoes are browned. * I didn’t do the broiler method. I baked the mixture at a lower heat, 375 F, for 20 minutes.


The variations you could use are substituting lamb for beef or even shredded chicken. If you are vegetarian use Tofu Crumbles. I used those quite a bit when I was a vegetarian. Or beans…you could use red beans.

This particular Shepherds Pie was pronounced the best, THE BEST, one I have ever made. The gravy made a difference and it’s actually the first time we tried it with lamb.




Thanks to my Welsh girlfriend for prompting me to make this mouth watering comfort-food dish. Can’t wait to make it again! You'll thank me if you try this version but please.....make that gravy. Mmmm mmmm