Shepherd’s Pie
One of my favorite spring time specialties right on time for Saint Patrick’s Day. Pies are a labor of love and I have always looked forward to celebrating holidays because I like learning about different cultures, traditions and definitely cuisines.
This recipe will forever be a family favorite and don’t worry, its easy to make. Its as easy as layering mashed potato’s and ground beef in a baking tray.
To put a little twist on it I used some truffle oil in the mash potatoes. Feel free to go the classic way or make changes to your liking using what you have on hand.
Shephard’s Pie - veganified
Notes:If you want clean, sliced portions I recommend letting the pie firm up or “set” in the fridge as it will be too hot to slice fresh from the oven. Shepherd’s Pie
* Serves 6 *
Ingredients - Mashed Potato’s
6 Russet Potato’s - peeled and roughly chopped
1 cup - reserved potato water from cooking
1 tbsp - sea salt
2 cups - full fat coconut milk ( unsweetened )
1 tsp - white pepper
1 tbsp - nutritional yeast
3 tbsp - vegan butter
Ingredients - “Ground beef”
1 - 16.2 oz pack of Morning Star Griller Crumbles ( this is my go to plant protein for big recipes like this one but use your favorite )
1 - yellow onion, medium dice
1 - stalk of celery, medium dice
3 - small sized carrots, medium dice
2 - ears of corn, shucked
1/2 - cup peas, fresh or frozen
3 - tbsp minced garlic
2 - tbsp soy sauce
1 - cup red wine ( optional )
1 - cup crushed tomatoes
1 1/2 - cup full fat canned coconut milk ( unsweetened )
1 1/2 - Violife cheddar shreds
1/2 - tbsp sea salt
1/2 - tsp black pepper
1/2 - tsp paprika
1 - tsp garlic powder
1/2 - tsp dried sage
1/2 - tsp dried thyme
1/2 - tsp dried rosemary
Instructions
First things first I started out by mise en placing all my ingredients, washing my veggies and getting a pot of boiling water going for my potatoes.
Once my potatoes were cooked through. I strained them and set them aside. In the same pot I boiled them in, I sauteed some minced garlic in butter till golden brown and simmered that with a cup of coconut milk before adding in all my potatoes. This gave it a very savory garlicky flavor.
Now to mash the potatoes. I mashed them with a combination of some reserved hot potato water, coconut milk, vegan butter and some truffle oil. Seasoned with sea salt, nutritional yeast and white pepper.
Once that’s all mashed up, I set it to the side and started working on my “ground beef”.
I started with sautéing the onions, carrots, celery till that was golden brown then adding in my minced garlic. Then I dumped the bag of ground “beef” crumbles and seasoned this all with soy sauce - really gives vegan dishes like this one the extra boost of savory umami.
At this time is when I added my seasonings and crushed tomatoes allowing all those flavors to combine and simmer for about 5 min.
To loosen this up a bit but also make a nice creamy mixture I poured in some coconut milk and let that thicken for about 3-5 min. Lastly before your “beef” is done, stir in the cheese.
Now for the exciting part. In a baking dish, line it with some parchment paper and plop all your ground “beef” mixture in there and smooth it out. Top this off with a sprinkling of more vegan cheddar cheese.
Add your mashed potatoes in large spoonfuls all over and smoothen it all out. I poured a bit of melted vegan butter over the mashed potatoes to get a nice golden crust.
I baked this at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 10 min and then broiled it on high for another 10 min. Once removed from the oven I sprinkled some flakey salt and garnished with fresh chives.
All that’s left is to allow your pie to cool to get that nice pretty slice or dig in to enjoy it fresh.
