Reading about Natalie’s shepherd’s pie last week with longing, knowing we would have leftover lamb from Neil’s French Farmhouse cooking class and the recent cold blustery spell we’ve been having made me wonder if it was time for us to make a shepherd’s pie… Then I looked at our organic veggies needing to be used up and saw these beauties:
And I knew immediately that we would have a pie with a twist – the celeriac and blue potatoes in the mash! Just look at how beautiful the blue potatoes are:
And the garlic too:
Since I cut my thumb peeling the celeriac, Neil diced all the veggies and lamb:
And I made the mash:
(check out the chunks of blue in there!)
We sautéed the meat mixture:
and topped it with the mash:
(still digging the blue chunks!!!)
And baked it for around 30 minutes at 400℉, crisping it under the broiler (grill) for about 5 minutes right at the end:
Because there were a couple of sweet potatoes in there, it didn’t crisp and brown as much as if we had used plain potatoes. But it was still pretty:
Verdict? The taste was great but perhaps we could have decreased the sweet potatoes to one and used a couple more regular potatoes. It was a tad too sweet. I also added some cream cheese along with the butter and perhaps should have used a bit less than I did (about 2 tablespoons). It did make it nice and creamy though… The celeriac gave it a nice bite and I would use that again. All in all, a lovely fall dish that only took about 30 minutes to prepare and another 30 to cook. And so nice made with lamb (like my mum used to!!!).
Don’t forget to “buzz” my Pesto deconstructed pizzas here so I can demo my menu item in the Bertolli Sauce kitchen at the Foodbuzz Blogger Festival in San Francisco on November 7th and click here to vote ELTW for Best New Blog!
Thanks!
That looks very wholesome and delicious. Perfect for the weather today which is a little bit cool (at night).
Shepherd's Pie looks great Mardi. Nana would be proud of you.
Mum – that's the best compliment ever!!! Thanks.
Divina – it is!
This is comfort food at its best. I love this kind of meal on a cold, blustery day.
I like the creative twist. I adore celeriac in mashed potatoes. The photos are beautiful!
Mmmmm great "fall" dish (hehe). I'm diggin the blue too!
Very Creative; I love this recipe…looks delish..
Can't wait to meet you in San Fran at Foodbuzz.
Cathy – thanks!
Fresh Local – thanks – it's easy to take nice pics when there are pretty veggies!
Conor – ok then – Autumn!!
Healthy Apple – Looking forward to SFO too!
oh yummy and love the twist send me some!!!
LOL! First read "I cut my thumb peeling the celeriac" as "I cut my thumb off peeling the celeriac." I was gonna be like, oh lord, and you're still writing this post instead of at the emergency room??
Lovely pics as usual… The patterns in that potato remind me of something intergalactic!
hv made shepherd's pie one, in a traditional way though.
your special twist with blue potatoes is great! i bet it must be very flavorful!
Way to use up those leftover veggies! Sounds like a winner.
Chow and Chatter – wish I could!
Chickenless – LOL!!!!
lululu – very flavourful, yes!
Tasty Eats – Definitely!
It's a shame that I still haven't made this dish before. It's on my "must make" list! Thanks!
this is amazing 🙂
Blue potatoes! That is relly cool. I don't eat lamb, but this looks delicious. My husband would love it!
I really do not mind the sweetness of the sweet potatoes. But I am not a big fan of celeraic…
Sook – it's so easy!
Pegasus – thanks!
traveleatlove – sounds like the husband and Neil would get on very well!
Penny – the celeriac taste was very mild.
This sounds awesome with sweet potatoes & blue potatoes!
My husband absolutely loves lamb and shepherd's pie so your version incorporating the two would be a big hit! I've never used celeriac before (note to self to be careful peeling it!) but I can never get enough of sweet potatoes. Great dish!
Might I add, while we did not have the entire thumb (re Chickenless comment), the extra protein from Mardi's blood probably added an extra dimension to the dish…not to be repeated.
This is so interesting! I love Shepherd's pie but haven't had it since I was a little girl. You've got me thinking about giving it a go!
Tangled Noodle – yes – be very careful. And try it – you'll love it!
Neil – errr… no!
tokyoterrace – it's so easy!!!
5 star – definitely adds a fun colour dimension!
Love your ideas! I've only made shepherd's pie following an old school recipe– definitely want to try out some of twists you incorporated in yours1
April – you should!