Shepherd’s Pie

With the weather turning colder, consumers are looking for familiar, comforting foods to help them brave those chilly days. Soups and stews are reentering the lunch and dinner scene as powerhouses of warmth. Most people don’t have the time or inclination to make soups and stews for themselves, but still, they hunger for the satisfying familiar foods that make them feel cozy.

Enter shepherd’s pie. This classic of the winter kitchen combines a hearty lamb stew with a fluffy topping of browned mashed potatoes. Originally from sheepherding communities in England and Ireland, it was a staple on long, cold days. Based on available and seasonal winter vegetables and fortified with the added protein of ground lamb, shepherd’s pie is a healthy, yet hearty, option.

The stew comprises a basic mirepoix of onions and carrots, with ground lamb as the protein source. Along with soy and Worcestershire sauces, other seasonings and a roux, the mirepoix and lamb are braised for maximum flavor. Peas are added at the end of the braising process to preserve their natural sweetness and maintain piece identity. The product at this point is a wonderfully satisfying winter dish and, in some cases, might be packaged on its own as a hearty winter lamb stew. However, that would leave out one of the most-satisfying parts of a shepherd’s pie: its signature browned mashed-potato crust. The mashed potatoes are creamy and buttery, with a little egg added to keep a certain amount of body. The mashed potatoes could likewise be packaged on their own as a separate product.

Once the lamb stew is ready and cooled, it can be placed in either individual or family-sized, oven-safe containers. Sourcing the formula’s precooked ground lamb with a braised flavor added can help replicate scratch-made notes. Also, use of modified potato starch in the manufactured gravy helps maintain stability through freeze/thaw. The stew is topped with the mashed potatoes—sourced as a finished product, ideally with added butter flavor to match the flavor of the gold standard, to save time in manufacturing —garnished with paprika, and sealed and frozen for the end consumer. The consumer can then reheat the shepherd’s pie in a conventional oven or in the microwave. For products exclusively destined for microwave preparation, coating the mashed potatoes with a browning agent would lend a nice touch.

To date, there is only one commercially available shepherd’s pie carried by national grocery store chains, and that pie is adapted for vegetarians (sometimes called “shepherdess pie”). This provides an excellent opportunity for a new, yet familiar, product to reach consumers in a convenient heat-and-eat format.

Recipe:
Ingredients

Mashed Potato Topping 
2 lbs. Russet potatoes, peeled, diced 
3 tablespoons butter 
1 large egg 
½ cup heavy cream 
Salt and pepper to taste 

Filling 
1 tablespoon vegetable oil 
2 lbs. ground lamb 
1 medium onion, diced 
1 carrot, peeled, cut into circles 
1 teaspoon garlic, minced 
½ cup green peas 
1 teaspoon paprika 
1 tablespoon oregano 
1½ tablespoons parsley 

Gravy 
2 tablespoons butter 
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour 
1 cup beef stock 
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce 
1 teaspoon soy sauce 
Paprika, as needed for garnish 

Procedure: Preheat oven to 400°F. Boil peeled potatoes until tender, about 10 minutes. Drain and return to pot. Over low heat, add butter to melt and combine thoroughly, mashing potatoes. In separate bowl, combine egg and cream, add to potato-butter mixture and stir until incorporated, mashing any large lumps. Set aside. In a large sauté pan, add oil and heat over high until hot. Add lamb and brown meat, breaking up large clumps. Remove lamb from pan and drain excess fat. Sauté onions and carrots until onions are translucent. Add garlic and sauté until thoroughly combined, about 30 seconds. Remove from heat and set aside. In a sauté pan, melt butter and stir in flour, cook over medium-low heat until smooth. Add beef stock, Worcestershire sauce and soy sauce. Stir until smooth; let simmer and thicken for about an additional minute. Combine reserved meat, sautéed vegetables, gravy, green peas, paprika and herbs; mix completely. Portion into casserole dish. Top with mashed potatoes, either piped with pastry tip or spread with spatula, and garnish with paprika. Bake until potatoes are browned, about 12 minutes. Yields about 4 to 6 servings. 

Procedure: Defrost frozen ground lamb and mashed potatoes under refrigeration per supplier’s specifications. Add all filling ingredients to steam-jacketed kettle with scraped-surface agitators and mix on low speed until evenly combined. Add gravy ingredients and combine until thoroughly incorporated. Under continued low agitation, heat kettle to 175°F and cook for about 10 to 15 minutes, or until heated through. Cool to 38°F. Deposit 6 oz. into ovenable and microwave-safe paperboard casserole containers. Remove defrosted mashed potatoes from refrigerator and place in a multihead depositer fitted with six, ½-oz. deposits (total of 3 oz. per container), equally spaced. Deposit potatoes onto filling mixture, dust with paprika, cover with microwave-safe clear film and freeze. End user: Peel back corner of plastic film and microwave on high for about 6 minutes, or until an internal temperature of 165°F is reached. To heat in oven, remove plastic wrap and place into heated 375°F oven for 25 minutes if frozen, 15 minutes if thawed, again to an internal temperature of 165°F.