Greek Shepherd's Pie

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 3/4- 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
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes in juice
1 1/2 cups beef stock (I used leftovers)
4 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tablespoon fresh oregano

topping

1 1/4 pounds russet potatoes, peeled, cut into 1-inch cubes
2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
2/3 cup whole milk
3/4 cups (packed) coarsely grated kasseri cheese

How To:

filling

Scatter eggplant on a rimmed baking sheet. Sprinkle with coarse salt; let stand 1 hour, tossing occasionally. Rinse eggplant and pat very dry.

Heat 3 tablespoons of oil in a heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add eggplant and sauté until tender, about 12 minutes. Transfer to a medium bowl.

Sprinkle lamb generously with coarse salt and pepper, then dust with flour to coat. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in the same pot over medium-high heat. Add half of the lamb. Sauté until browned, about 8 minutes. Transfer lamb to a large bowl. Repeat with 2 tablespoons oil and the remaining lamb.

Add 1 additional tablespoon of oil to the same pot, if needed. Add onions. Cover and cook over medium-low heat until very tender, about 10 minutes (bottom of the pot will be very dark). Add wine to the pot. Increase heat and boil until wine evaporates, scraping up browned bits, about 5 minutes.

Add tomatoes with juice, broth, garlic, and oregano and bring to boil. Add lamb with any accumulated juices. Cover; reduce heat to low and simmer for 1 hour. Stir in eggplant.

Season with salt and pepper.

Transfer to a 13x9x2-inch glass baking dish.

topping

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Cook potatoes in a large pot of boiling salted water until tender, about 14 minutes.

Meanwhile, melt butter with oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add garlic. Sauté until fragrant, about 1 minute.

Add milk and bring to simmer.

Drain potatoes.

Return to pot. Stir over medium heat until excess moisture evaporates. Add milk mixture and mash potatoes until just smooth.

Stir in cheese.

Season with coarse salt and pepper.

Drop the mashed potatoes by heaping tablespoonfuls over the lamb mixture, covering completely.

Bake pie until filling is heated through and topping is golden for about 45 minutes.

Garnish with fresh oregano.

Eat.

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Stu

Friday 4th of September 2015

This isn't shepherds pie this is moussaka, no offence but technically a completely separate dish

Bridget~ The Internet Chef

Friday 4th of June 2010

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.

Kevin

Sunday 15th of March 2009

Those shepherds pie's look really good!

Cathy - wheresmydamnanswer

Tuesday 10th of March 2009

WOW that looks so incredible and love the small serving size!!

Adrienne

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!