The following recipe is a modified version of a hand me down recipe from not only may family, but history. You will read about both below. This dish has been a staple in my life and has become [original recipe or modified] a classic example of what I would consider the ultimate comfort food. The original recipe consisted of nothing more than ground beef, beans, tomato soup and mashed potatoes.
Tom’s Classic Shepard’s Pie [or Cottage Pie]
This is one dish that has many versions of how to make as well as many versions of the history in which it derived. You can look up the differences of Shepard’s Pie and Cottage Pie and you will find that this dish is “technically” a Cottage Pie, however, in my family it has always been referred to as Shepard’s Pie.
I’ll give you the tale that was passed down to me from the ladies in my family. A long time ago, Shepard’s Pie was made due to the fact that a Shepard typically did not earn more than a modest living, mostly leaning toward that of being rather poor. Like affluent folks, they wanted something delicious to eat on what they had to scrape up and slap together.
So, they took whatever scraps of meat that were leftover and mixed them with leftover vegetables or whatever they could forage up and topped it with a relatively new, inexpensive and plentiful topping. That topping was potatoes. Now the version of the story you may have heard growing up may be similar or totally way off base from what was passed down from my family but I can assure you of one thing. Nobody is correct. The documented tales of origination go back to the late 1700’s and the origination of them both was earlier than that. So, with that said, whatever version you have heard? Believe that one and all will be well as nobody will ever know for sure.
Here’s the history of the dish I’m about to tell you about….I have been blessed to have grown up in a family of really good cooks. We grew up rather poor as young children and we had to eat this Shepard’s Pie about three or four times a month, if not more. I loved it then as I love it now. Anyhoo, after moving out of the folks’ house some 25+ years ago I would sometimes get a hankerin’ for some Shepard’s pie. So, I’d call my mom up and ask her the very simple ingredients for her Shepard’s Pie. It was always the quantities I'd forget since I was always experimenting with other cooking recipes and the time in between batches were so far and few between. This happened so often that she told me to write it down. Well, I did. Then I’d lose it [bachelor’s life and all…] and I’d have to call her back and ask her all over again. Then I’d lose it again.
Well, this went on for about 15 years until one day I said you know what? I’m gonna make my own version. Let me tell you, it’s hard to top Mom’s version though. I was a little intimidated at first and at first I failed, miserably. The first time I made my version, I forgot the meat. DOH! Yeah, the wife still teases me about that one. Well, 7 or 8 years have gone by and I think I’ve finally perfected my version. I hope you enjoy it as much as my family and I currently do.
It’s very simple, takes about 30 minutes to prep and 35-40 minutes to cook in the casserole dish. If you have room in the refrigerator, this can be prepared up to a day in advance and slapped in the oven about an hour before you plan on feeding guests with minimal effort and minimal kitchen time [you will have to increase the cooking time]. If you follow the ingredients and do not deviate, this dish will fit perfectly into a 10x15 Pyrex baking dish. I hope you enjoy.
Bottom Layer
2lbs. ground beef, cooked and drained
2-11oz. cans of tomato soup
3-14.5oz. cans cut green beans
1-1/2 tbs. of minced onions
½ cup heavy cream
½ cup milk
½ tsp. salt*
Middle layer
6 cups total instant or homemade basic mashed potatoes with 1 teaspoon white pepper added.
Top Layer
8oz. sharp shredded cheddar cheese
8oz. shredded mozzarella cheese
Preheat oven to 360 degrees. After you have cooked and drained the ground beef, simply add the rest of the ingredients for the bottom layer in a 12-14” skillet**. Take the ingredients, mix well and just heat them up to where everything is mildly hot and layer it all evenly into a 10x15 Pyrex baking dish or whatever you have that is large enough to hold all of the ingredients in layers. Now, take the 6 cups of mashed potatoes and one large spoonful at a time, smear into a 4-5” section over the lower layer [trying not to disturb the lower layer] until completely covered in an even layer of mashed potatoes. Cover with both types of cheese and pat the entire dish down to level with both hands to avoid any spillovers in the oven. Cook for 35 to 40 minutes uncovered in middle of oven until top layer is melted and turning a slight brown across the top. You might want to let it cool down a bit before serving because it is EXTREMELY hot when you get it out of the oven and it will retain that heat for some time. Enjoy.
[* Optional but it does the recipe justice with it....] , [**Mine happens to be a 12” cast iron skillet but you can use whatever will fit the ingredients]
Of all of the years I have tried modifying this recipe, I have found that keeping as true to the original recipe has always yielded the best results. Trust me, I have tried many things. Sometimes, keeping things simple is just the best way to go when it comes to food......Hmmm, kind of sounds like something you would hear in the audio world too, eh?