- There is always a little bit
of pressure to come up with a dish that is holiday worthy
and so special and impressive. And this one checks all
the boxes, check this out. (upbeat Christmas music) Hey everybody, it's Natasha
of natashaskitchen.com. I'm gonna show you how
to make shepherd's pie. This is one of those classic
dishes that is just so comforting and special, and
it's simpler than you think. And the flavors are just
mmm, it is so satisfying. Also I'm hungry. So let's get started. Plus if you haven't already,
make sure you subscribe to our channel if you
like recipes that work. You can start with
leftover mashed potatoes if you have them, but I'm gonna show you how to make mashed potatoes
for shepherd's pie. You'll need two pounds of russet potatoes. Peel those, then cut them
into one inch thick pieces. Try to cut even pieces so
they cook at the same rate. Once they're all chopped up,
I do like to rinse my potatoes to keep them from getting discolored and to remove any excess starch. Transfer those to a medium sauce pan and cover the potatoes with cold water. We're gonna get those
potatoes on the stove and bring them to a boil. Once the water has boiled,
you can reduce the heat just to keep them at a low
boil and continue to cook for about 12 to 15 minutes, depending on how large
you cut your potatoes. Once you can pierce the
potatoes easily with a fork, take them off the heat and drain well. Make sure you don't
over cook your potatoes. Now we're gonna mash up the potatoes. You can either use a classic
potato masher like this one, or you can use an electric hand mixer. Since this is a small
batch of mashed potatoes. I'm just using my hand masher. Add three fourths cup of
warm, heavy whipping cream, and continue mashing
until smooth and creamy. Now add half a teaspoon
of salt or add to taste. Make sure you're scraping
down the pot as you mash so you don't get any firm
pieces of potato at the bottom. To finish off the potatoes,
we're gonna add in one fourth cup of
shredded Parmesan cheese, and one lightly beaten egg. Mash that in and your potatoes should be super smooth and creamy at this point. Now to make that delicious
shepherd's pie filling. Since this comes together pretty quickly once it's on the stove, you'll want to start with some quick prep. Finely chop up one cup of yellow onion. Also, peel and mince
two large garlic cloves. This is also a great
time to preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit with the rack in the middle of the oven. Now it's time to hit the stove. Place a large skillet over medium heat. Add one tablespoon of oil, then add one pound of lean ground beef. Now shepherd's pie is traditionally
made with ground lamb, hence the name shepherd's pie,
but we prefer ground beef, so that's what we're using here. And here's a fun fact;
when people do make this with ground beef, they
call it cottage pie. Season the beef with one teaspoon of salt and half a teaspoon of
black pepper and continue cooking the meat, breaking
it up with the spatula. You're gonna cook for about five minutes or until the ground beef
is just cooked through. Now add your chopped onion and
saute for about three minutes to soften those up and
add your minced garlic and stir for another minute or
until the garlic is fragrant. To create a thick and creamy sauce, sprinkle the top with two
tablespoons of all purpose flour and continue stirring
that for another minute. You want to see the flour sticking to and coating the bottom of the pan. Stir in the red wine and
scrape the bottom of the pan for another minute to deglaze the pan. Next, add your beef broth,
and you can use chicken broth if that's what you have on hand. Also stir in one tablespoon
of Worcestershire sauce and a tablespoon of tomato paste. Now add one and a half
cups of frozen veggies, and you can choose which veggies
you like to put in there. I have a combination of
peas, carrots, and corn, and I'm just adding those frozen. Bring the mixture to a uniform light boil, then season to taste. I like to add about
half a teaspoon of salt and a quarter teaspoon of black pepper. Reduce the heat to keep it at a simmer, then cover and let it
simmer for about 10 minutes or until the sauce is thickened and the flavors have melded together. This is your last chance to
season to taste if you need to before we transfer it into the oven. Transfer that to either a deep pie pan, which is what I'm using, or you can use a casserole
dish and either an 11 by seven or a nine by nine dish works great. Keep in mind you still need
to add mashed potatoes on top, so if your dish is too shallow, the filling can bubble
out and leak in the oven. Once your meat mixture is
leveled out in your baking dish, you want to add your mashed potatoes. I do like to use this trigger
release ice cream scoop, and I will link to this and
all of the tools that I'm using in the notes and just
mound the mashed potatoes evenly over the top. Adding them in little bits like
this makes it much easier to spread them without disturbing
the yummy filling underneath. You can either press over the
top of the potatoes with the tines of a fork to decorate it. But I personally like
the swirled appearance, just a little spatula. Last but not least, drizzle
with two tablespoons of melted butter over
the top and bake in the center of a preheated oven
at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for about 30 minutes or until the potatoes start to turn golden on top. I do like to place a sheet of
foil under my shepherd's pie just in case to catch any leaks. You can see the top is
getting lightly golden and you can broil the top
for a couple of minutes to give it more color if you want to. Once it's out of the oven, you want to let it rest for
about 15 minutes before serving because it will be
piping hot in the center. And when your kitchen smells this good, it's really hard to wait. All right. I cannot wait any longer. It's time to dig in and enjoy this. And I do love to add a little
bit of fresh greens on top. I've got parsley here.
You can also use chives. Yum. That's so pretty. Okay, there we go. If you love meat and potatoes, this is gonna be your new favorite because it's meat and potatoes. Okay, here we go. I'm
ready for this taste test. And we're just gonna load it up. And there's no real like,
pro way to serve this. You just get a spoon and you go at it. All right. Just like
this. Let me show you. First you make a little
cut around the edges and then scoop and lift. That's all there is to it. All right. Oh, I love that saucy meaty gravy, oh, so good. I can't wait to dig into this. That's exactly what I'm
gonna do. Okay, here we go. While it's still hot and steamy and fresh. But this does reheat
really well by the way. And you can make it ahead. Okay, enough talking, more eating. Oh my, 10 out of 10. That is seriously the
ultimate comfort food. Everything from that saucy
gravy sauce underneath with all that tender beef in it. And then it's loaded with veggies. So this really is a meal in itself and it just looks so
stunning on a holiday table. It's so impressive. I also love that there's
a little bit of cheese in the mashed potatoes in that topping. It just takes it to the next level. Oh, it's so good. You can totally make this a day ahead. Cover it, put it in the
fridge and then just pop in the oven when
you're ready to enjoy. You might add a few minutes
of baking time though, if it's cold, but wow. This is seriously one crowd-pleasing dish. I hope it becomes a new favorite for you. And let me know if you found
the shark in today's episode. I think we hid it pretty well, but I do want to hear
from you in the comments if you spotted it, and we'll
see you in our next episode. I'm gonna go eat this. I'm hungry.
