Lamb Shepherd's Pie

At Christmas, my family chooses different countries as the inspiration for our Christmas Eve celebration.  We have had a Spanish Christmas, a Newfoundland Christmas, a Mexican Christmas, a Ukrainian Christmas, and a French Christmas, among other countries.  

Last Christmas we celebrated an Australian Christmas.  This lamb shepherd pie was the main dish.  We also add a dessert called lush, pavlova,  and an Australian bread called damper.

It was a delicious meal, and this dish was definitely the highlight.  We actually ended up tripping the recipe because we were feeding a large crowd.  Everyone enjoyed it immensely.  

This lamb shepherd's pie came from William Sonoma's website.  We made the recipe as directed.  The ingredients are 2 pounds boneless lamb shoulder, salt, freshly ground pepper, 2 tablespoons olive oil, 8 tablespoons butter, 1 large onion, 3 chopped large carrots, 3 diced celery stalks, 2 minced garlic cloves, 6 tablespoons all purpose flour, 3 1/3 cups beef broth, 2/3 cup dry white wine, 2 teaspoons fresh minced rosemary, 3 pounds baking potatoes, 1/3 cup heavy cream, and 1 cup frozen peas. 

We began by trimming the fat of the lamb and cutting into one inch cubes.  We seasoned the lamb with salt and pepper.  We added the oil to a sauté pan and browned the lamb in the pan over medium high heat.  We browned the lamb in batches so that the meat wasn't too crowded in the pan.  We cooked each side for a couple of minutes.  We transferred the browned meat to a plate.

We added four tablespoons of the butter to the same pan.  We clearly tripped the recipe.  We added the onions, garlic, carrots, and celery.  We sautéed the aromatics in the butter for a several minutes.  The carrots should start to soften.  We had too much food, and our pan was too small.  We ended up removing the semi cooked vegetables to make the rue.  

We added a little extra butter and the flour.  We cooked this for a few minutes over medium-high heat.    The flour and butter becomes thick.

We then slowly stirred in the stock and the wine.  We stirred continuously.  

We added this sauce, the browned lamb, and the vegetables into a bigger pot and let this simmer for a few minutes until the sauce thickened.

We cooked the cubed and pealed potatoes in salted water.  We boiled the potatoes for 20 to 25 minutes.

We mashed in three tablespoons of butter and the heavy cream into the mashed potatoes.

We added the peas to the lamb and vegetable mixture.

We poured the lamb mixture into casserole dishes.  We then covered the meat and vegetables with the mashed potatoes.

We baked the shepherd's pie for an hour and a half at 325 degrees.

 This was an absolutely scrumptious dish.  It was one of the most flavorful and toothsome dishes I have made.  The meat was so tender and succulent.  It was hearty and comforting.

The flavors of the sauce and the texture of the vegetables were spot on.  The mashed potatoes were creamy, buttery, and smooth.  It was a wonderful, tasty, and nourishing dish.  I would definitely make this dish again.