What do you do with your leftover lamb after a big Easter meal? Other than make lamb pita sandwiches with some tzatziki sauce? Mmmm, that sounds good; but our mission is to make Shepherd’s Pie. I use my leg of lamb leftover from Easter for this recipe, but you can use ground lamb or any other cut.
Ingredients
- 1½-2 Cups of Cooked Lamb, cubed in ¼" size (try our Rosemary Leg of Lamb Recipe)
- 2 T Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1 Cup Yellow Onion, chopped
- 4-6 Garlic Cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
- 2 Cups Crimini Mushrooms, quartered (any mushroom will suffice)
- 1 Cup Carrots, sliced and quartered (imagine slices of quarter pies)
- 1 Cup Frozen Peas (unless you can find fresh ones)
- 2 T Fresh Rosemary, chopped
- 1 T Fresh Thyme, chopped
- ¾ Cups Red Wine (a wine you would drink; I use Zinfandel)
- 2 T Cornstarch
- 2 T Water
- 2 Cups Chicken Stock
- 3-4 Cups of Rosemary Mashed Potatoes
Directions
- Add the 2 T of olive oil to a large saucepan over medium-high heat.
- Add the cubed lamb, stirring until it's just browned.
- Remove the lamb from the saucepan, leaving any drippings in the pan.
- Add the onions to the pan, cooking for about 5 minutes until they're soft and translucent (stir frequently).
- Add the garlic, cooking for another minute or so, keep stirring.
- Add the carrots, and cook for another 5 minutes stirring frequently.
- Add the peas, and cook for another couple of minutes.
- Add the rosemary and thyme, and cook for a few more minutes until you smell the herbs rise.
- Add the lamb back to the pan and stir to mix in.
- Remove the saucepan from the heat.
- Add a separate saucepan to medium-high heat and add the red wine.
- Cook until the wine has reduce by about 50%, stirring occasionally.
- Add the chicken stock and bring it to a boil.
- Reduce the heat to low to let it the sauce simmer.
- Mix the cornstarch and water in a separate small bowl to make a thick slurry.
- Add the cornstarch/water mixture to the simmering sauce, whisking the sauce constantly as you add the cornstarch. This will thicken the sauce into a murky burgundy gravy.
- Add the sauce to the lamb and vegetable mixture.
- Turn on the oven to Broil.
- Pour the lamb and vegetable mixture into a large casserole dish or several single serving crock pot/soup bowls (make sure they're oven safe).
- Top with the mashed potatoes (you may have to heat these up, adding warm milk or butter to give them a whipped consistency before adding).
- Cook under the broiler for 10 minutes until the top is light golden brown (or to your preference).
Tips
You can use 1 1/2 lbs. of ground lamb in place of the cubed lamb.
Don't add the cornstarch/water mixture to the sauce when it's boiling, or you'll have yourself some white jelly-like pancakes.
You can prepare this recipe ahead of time and put in the refrigerator over-nite; but you may want to apply the potatoes just before you cook it. Also, you should probably bake at 350 for 30-45 minutes to make sure it's heated through. Then you can broil to brown the top.