It's cold outside ... time for comfort food

There are many derivatives on comfort food but everyone needs at least one go-to for those cold and rainy days when you just want to stay in, wrap up in a blanket and cook something that makes you feel all warm inside.  Today was one of those days so I headed to Whole Foods, ready to be inspired.  I wandered over to the meat counter and one of the first things I saw was ground Icelandic Lamb ... yep, Shepherd's Pie it was going to be.

Like more comfort food, Shepherd's Pie has a minimal number of ingredients, and doesn't require a lot of work to make an awesome, stick-to-your-ribs, dinner.

I started a pot of potatoes boiling to make the mashed potato topping.  I used yukon golds because they mash well and make nice smooth potatoes.  Once they soften up I'll be mashing them and adding 1 cup of shredded Dubliner cheese, 1/4 cup of milk and 1/2 stick of butter ... but more to come on that later.

In parallel, I started another pan with an onion and a carrot ... I peeled and diced both and then into the hot saute pan they went.  I then added the lamb to the pan (~2 lbs of ground lamb) and cooked the lot down for about 10 minutes.  I drained off the excess liquid with some paper towels and then added about a tablespoon of flour to absorb the rest.  I added a tablespoon of chopped rosemary, a cup of peas, a cup of beef stock and 1 tablespoon of tomato paste.  I continued to stir the pan until the liquid had tightened up and then into the pyrex baking tray it went.

By this time, the potatoes were cooked, so I drained the water and tossed the potatoes into a bowl.  I mashed them and then mixed in the butter and milk, using a spatula to continue to smooth them out.  Once the potatoes were pretty smooth, I added the cheese and continued to stir until it was completely melted and the potatoes were totally smooth.  I then used the spatula to spoon the potato mixture over the base and smooth it out to make a potato topper.

Once it was smoothed out, I used a fork to cross hatch the potato topping and then into the 350F oven it went.  I cooked the entire thing for 30 minutes (but you can pull yours out earlier if the potato topping hits that nice golden baked color that means it's going to be tasty.

Once out of the oven, I let the pie sit for about 5 minutes to tighten up a little bit and then used a nice flat spoon to scoop out a generous serving for each of us.

I served the pie with some roasted brussels sprouts and a roll ... but you can serve it with whatever you want and then enjoy!!