Vegetarian Shepherd's Pie
Typical Seattle Sunday: there’s a glimmer of sunshine and I head out on an 8 mile walk. (I also spent the last two days in scrum training and need to wander until the fluorescent lights of a classroom are forgotten) This past Sunday, I ended up at the Ballard Farmer’s Market, on the hunt for some inspiration (and maybe a breakfast burrito). Enter mushroom farmers. So many wild mushrooms, I started grabbing one box of each kind until the seller told me to put them back and select the variety box, so I can save some money. Nice guy, because I would have been happy spending $25 on mushrooms, but instead I walked away with just about a pound of wild mushrooms for $12.
I’ve discussed my love of mushrooms before, and you can read about it in the Sherry-Roasted Mushrooms post, because this post is all about shepherd’s pie. Glorious, perfect shepherd’s pie.
A history lesson from wikipedia (thanks): the term cottage pie was first used in the UK in 1791 when the potato was introduced as an edible crop (because it was cheap, and poor people lived in cottages). The phrase “shepherd’s pie” didn’t show up until 1854, and has been used synonymously with cottage pie ever since (basically meaning some kind of leftover meat with gravy and vegetables, covered with potatoes, and roasted). Apparently they've also made it with potatoes on the bottom and the top, which is fucking genius and I'll have to try this.
Initial thoughts: What do you mean the potato was introduced as an edible crop in 1791?!?! Did we not eat potatoes before this?!
*Furiously googles the history of potatoes. Hold, please*
Wow, I’ve just learned so much about the potato. Funny that everyone associates potatoes with Ireland, because it’s indigenous to the Andes in South America, and apparently wasn’t introduced to Europe until the mid-16th century, by the Spanish. Scientists have traced the origin of the first potato to Southern Peru and Northwestern Bolivia. The people there have been eating potatoes for something like 10,000 years, because they're smart, obviously.
So basically the Spanish conquered the Incans (I use the term "conquered" loosely, because I don't want to get into a chat about genocide and colonialism right now), and took some potatoes back to Europe, where Europeans were skeptical about them. They didn’t become popular or well-known there until the late 18th century. Wow. #mindblown
A huge thank you to South America and Spain. I feel like I need a moment to continue processing this information.
OK, back to Shepherd’s Pie. Traditionally, this is not a vegetarian dish, and the final result that I created today was not fully vegetarian, because I used beef stock, but you can use vegetable stock, too. When I make shepherd’s pie, I’m usually using a combination of cubed beef and ground lamb, and then adding shallots, carrots, and mushrooms, with some frozen peas at the end, into a pot of brown gravy. When everything bubbles, I cover it in mashed potatoes, and roast it in the oven for something like 15-20 minutes. There are directions, for those wishing to use meat, at the bottom of this post after the photos.
Then it’s just a matter of time before my brain convinces my tongue that it won’t get burned, and I dive into it, realizing that my brain is an asshole and a liar. We’ve all been there.
Today’s recipe also features the magical instant pot, because mashed potatoes usually take forever, but today only took 15 minutes. I also used a cornstarch slurry to thicken my gravy, so the recipe is keeping with my current gluten free diet (moment of silence for bread). And I used nutpods instead of cream in my mashed potatoes, to keep the amount of dairy low in this recipe. Nutpods are a magical dairy alternative that I use for coffee creamer and a number of other things that I would typically use half and half in. They have zero sugar and taste amaze. I’m sorry, though, I will not stop using butter, because that vegan stuff is not the same, and you’ve clearly forgotten how real butter tastes if you think it is. But you know...you do you.
Ingredients:
- 1 pound of assorted wild mushrooms
- 2 shallots
- 2-3 carrots, depending on size
- 1 1/2 cups frozen peas (you can use fresh, too)
- 1 1/2 - 2 cups stock (I used beef, you can use whatever you like)
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 3 tablespoons cold water
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 3/4 cup red wine (plus more for drinking)
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- A few springs each of rosemary and thyme, on their stems
- salt/pepper
For the potatoes:
- 6 yukon gold potatoes, peeled and quartered
- salt/pepper
- 6 tablespoons butter, melted
- 1/2 - 3/4 cup nutpods (or cream, or another dairy alternative)
Directions:
Start with prep (duh). Chop the carrots and shallots into the same size dice. Chop the mushrooms as you see fit, I like to vary the size of the chop for some textural difference. Mix together the cornstarch and water and set aside. Measure out your wine and stock separately. Chop and peel the potatoes.
Add the potatoes to the instant pot and fill the pot with just enough water to cover the potatoes. Add a huge pinch of salt, and seal the lid. Pressure cook on high for 10 minutes, natural realize for 5. Remove the cover and do a fork check: a fork should easily slide into three random pieces. Drain the potatoes and put them back in the pot, leaving the instant pot on the warming setting. Add the butter and 1/2 cup of the nutpods. Mash with a potato masher until everything is combined. Add a little more of the nutpods if you want to - texture is up to you. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and leave on warming setting until you need them. Seriously - you just made mashed potatoes in under 20 minutes. Do not overmash, because the potatoes will turn gummy from over-activated starch.
***If you don't have an instant pot, directions for traditional mashed potatoes are at the bottom of this page.
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
Add the olive oil and shallots to a cast iron pan, and sauté with a pinch of salt over medium heat until translucent, about 3-5 minutes. Add the mushrooms and cook until they’ve finished releasing their water and are starting to brown, about 10 minutes. Season with another pinch of salt.
Add the carrots and the herbs, and sauté everything together for another 5 minutes until the vegetables are starting to stick to the bottom a bit.
Add the tomato paste and stir to combine everything. After about a minute, the tomato paste should start sticking to the bottom - now it’s time for the wine! (In the pan, to be clear) (Pour a glass for yourself, too, because wine not?) #seewhatididthere #terriblejokes
Deglaze with the wine and let it cook for about 2 minutes - the wine will almost evaporate. Add 1 cup of the stock and the cornstarch slurry. Stir to combine; you’ll notice that the sauce will thicken significantly in about a minute - add more stock 1/4 cup at a time until it reaches the desired thickness. You want it to be similar to thanksgiving gravy that easily pours.
Simmer until the carrots are fork tender, about 15 minutes, and then add the frozen peas. Cook another 2 minutes.
Remove the herbs, turn the heat off, and go get those potatoes!
Spoon the potatoes over the top of the vegetables, smoothing them out in an even layer over the entire pan. Place the cast iron pan on a cookie sheet, just in case it bubbles over, and put the whole thing into the oven for 15 minutes.
When the time is up, turn the oven to broil, and cook another 2-5 minutes, or until the potatoes are golden on the top. Do NOT walk away from your oven right now. Every broiler is different, and you’ll be really sad if you mess this part up.
Remove from the oven and let it cool for at least 15 minutes.
Garnish with a little sea salt and enjoy! This recipe should feed around 6 people.
***Mashed potatoes on the stove top: add the chopped potatoes to a stock pot and fill with enough cold water to cover them. Add a giant pinch of salt, and bring to a boil over high heat. Once boiling, reduce to simmer, and cook until they pass the fork test (20-30 minutes, depending on size). Drain the potatoes, add them back to the pot, and mash together with the butter and cream/nutpods/whatever your preference here. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and keep warm until you need them.
If you want to make this with meat, I would use half a pound of ground lamb and half a pound of cubed beef, cut into small pieces, about a centimeter square. Sauté the meat with salt and pepper in the cast iron pan first, with a little olive oil, until it's browned. Don't rush this part - the browned meat is necessary. Remove the meat and set aside before continuing the rest of the recipe (instead of using a pound of wild mushrooms, I'll typically use a contain of those white button mushrooms, chopped). Before you add the tomato paste, add the meat back, and continue with the rest of the directions. PS - definitely use beef stock here.
