Lenny has been asking me to make a shepherd's pie for a few months. This is unusual as he hardly ever requests something special to eat. To be honest, I had never made a shepherd's pie before, as well it had been years since I had eaten one. I always think of a shepherd's pie as being a saucy dish full of meat only and topped off with some sort of potato topping. While it is usually good, I ten to find them not too exciting. That is until I discovered the Greek Shepherd's Pie. I am happy to say that this recipe for a Greek Sheperd's Pie is not only topped with some sort of potato which screams comfort food, but it is loaded with flavor from lamb, eggplant and greek inspired herbs. Much more exciting than a traditional meat pie.
I started researching Shepard's Pie when Lenny mentioned wanting one. Most of the recipes that came up were lamb or beef-based and they all had a combination of potatoes, carrots, and peas in them. For some reason, I was not in the mood for this typical pie so I kept searching.
Then I opened my March issue of Bon Appetit and found a few different comfort pies and one of them was this Greek Shepherd's Pie. I liked this recipe as soon as I saw the ingredients, lamb, and eggplant. Both ingredients are big hits at our house. Once I read the recipe ingredients over and saw that it had a Greek influence, I knew I found a winner!
This is a fantastic recipe. Lots of texture, flavor, and pure comfort. I did substitute dried herbs with fresh ones. As well I had not read the recipe beforehand so I skimped on an hour of the stovetop cooking time as we did not want to eat at 10 pm. It worked out fine.
The lamb was ultra-tender as well as flavorful. The eggplant was not too mushy either. I highly recommend this recipe, just allow yourself about 5 hours total time to make it. It is a good rainy day weekend recipe to make.
Recipe: Greek Shepherd's Pie
*adapted from Bon Appetit - made 4 servings
Ingredients:
1 pound eggplant, unpeeled, cut into ¾- to 1-inch cubes
Coarse kosher salt
3 tablespoons (or more) extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1 pound well-trimmed boneless lamb shoulder, cut into 1-inch cubes
All-purpose flour
1 cups chopped onions
½ cup dry white wine
1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes in juice
1 ½ cups beef stock (I used leftovers)
4 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tablespoon fresh oregano
topping
1 ¼ pounds russet potatoes, peeled, cut into 1-inch cubes
2 tablespoons (¼ stick) butter
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
⅔ cup whole milk
¾ cups (packed) coarsely grated kasseri cheese
How To:
filling
topping
Garnish with fresh oregano.
Eat.
Shepherd's Pie is a classic I've enjoyed for years...your individual servings look spectacular for a serving.
That looks so yummy! Lamb is a bit strong for me, but my husband loves it so I usually do a mix with beef.
These look gorgeous! I'm getting ready to make my Shepard's pie this week as well. We love it!
Love the individual dishes! Gorgeous photos too!
I love Shepherd's Pie but have never had it with this twist on it. What a gorgeous photo--will have to try this, soon!
Great picture, and sounds wonderful.
They look absolutely delicious!
That looks so very good! Love all the flavors and especially the individual sized pots 😉
Ack, those look great! I ogled many of the recipes in that issue and haven't really gotten around to making them yet... glad to hear it turned out so well!
WOW that looks so incredible and love the small serving size!!
Those shepherds pie's look really good!
Thank you so much!!!
I have 10kg of cooked lamb in my fridge, not knowing what to do with it.. This looks like a winner : )
Love, Bridge.
This isn't shepherds pie this is moussaka, no offence but technically a completely separate dish