Friday, March 18, 2011

paleo shepherd's pie

Gordon Ramsay is a huge cooking inspiration for me. on top of being INSANELY handsome, he is extremely talented in the kitchen. reality shows and curse words aside; he cooks classic, delicious food. end of story.


i used his shepherd's pie recipe and made a couple alterations to make it paleo.

the filling:
  • 3 pounds of ground lamb (use beef if you can't get lamb)
  • 2 large carrots, grated or chopped fine
  • 1 large onion, grated or chopped fine
  • 2 tablespoons of fresh rosemary, minced
  • 2 tablespoons of fresh thyme, minced
  • 5 cloves of garlic, minced or grated
  • about 2 tsp. of Worcestershire sauce (American versions usually contain HFCS, English version doesn't. coconut aminos can be used instead too.) 
  • small can of tomato paste
  • a few glugs of red wine (don't cook with a wine that you wouldn't drink with dinner. cooking with alcohol only concentrates the flavor you are using)
  • olive oil
  • salt & pepper 

the mash:
  • 2-12 oz. bags of frozen cauliflower (i use the kind you can microwave right in the bag)
  • 2 tablespoons of melted grass fed butter (or coconut oil. it will have a coconutty flavor.)
  • 4-5 tablespoons of heavy cream (or coconut milk)
  • salt & pepper



to make the mash, microwave (or steam if you are using fresh) the cauliflower until tender. put all of the florets into the food processor as well as the salt, pepper and melted butter. turn the processor on and while everything is pureeing, add in the heavy cream. you may need more or less depending on your taste and the consistency of the cooked cauliflower. do a little quality check (QC) on seasonings, alter if needed and place in a bowl to the side.


preheat your oven to 400 degrees and preheat a pot to medium-highish heat. add the olive oil and then the lamb. season with salt and pepper. as the meat cooks, crumble it into small pieces. meanwhile, prep your veg and herbs.



once the meat is cooked through, add the vegetables and herbs, garlic last. season with salt again. ***SIDE NOTE: it may seem like i use a lot of salt  in my cooking. i was taught to season EVERY layer of your cooking. you should be tasting during each step of your cooking process, no matter what meal it is. you will end up using less salt overall.




you want the onions and carrots to get a chance to cook, so give them 6 or 7 minutes to get tender. finally add in the Worcestershire (or substitute), tomato paste and wine. reduced the heat a little bit and let the wine cook down a bit, about 3 more minutes.


 pour the meat mixture into a glass baking dish. i recommend putting it on a sheet pan first in case of any bubble overs in the oven.



next, spread the cauliflower mash over the meat mixture.


bake the pie for about 20 minutes in a 400 degree oven or until everything starts to get golden and delicious. this made about 6 servings and believe it or not, it tasted better the second day!




we served it with steamed broccoli...




**during our meal, george asked, "so besides the white potatoes, is this meal pretty much paleo?"

WHITE POTATOES?! HE THINKS THE CAULIFLOWER IS WHITE POTATOES?? SUCCESS!!

35 comments:

Caveman Home Companion said...

WOW! I'm going to have to try this. It looks delicious!

Patty said...

Gordon would be proud! :-)

Erica said...

Hi Kerri, I'm with LARABAR and I received your inquiry about a badge for your site. Can you e-mail me at bananas@larabar.com?
Thx! Erica

Whitney said...

I'm using your recipe to make Shepherd's Pie tonight for dinner! :D

Kerri Heffel said...

Whitney--Please let me know how it turns out... I hope you love it! and a Happy Belated Birthday to Quinn :)

Whitney said...

It came out GREAT! I think I'd double the cauliflower in the future but Mr. Husband even ate it for breakfast this morning, haha!

Chris said...

I use a similar recipe, but use parsnips and/or Turnips for the mash.

Secret Mom Thoughts said...

Definitely trying this! Yum!

Stacy said...

We made this, it was amazing.

That is all.

Stacey said...

Thank you for this recipe Kerri! It was delicious and will be added to our menu, frequently :)

Awry said...

This is looks fantastic. Any thoughts on whether this would freeze well? There are two of us, and I'm not sure that we would make it through this whole dish in time :)

Kerri Heffel said...

Awry-- I don't see any reason why it wouldn't freeze well. We had plenty of leftovers and the flavor just improved over time.

Anonymous said...

Just started paleo eating this week! Your recipe was so good! It's recipes like yours that have made it so easy to transition!

Anonymous said...

If I replaced the heavy cream with the coconut milk, would you recommend using the "fat" off the top of coconut milk or just all of it? Thanks in advance!

Kerri Heffel said...

as long as you are using full fat coconut milk (not light) you can use all of it. plus, it's only a little bit to get it nice and soft. hope this helps!

Marie said...

Made this last night with port instead of wine (didn't have any red wine) and full-fat coconut milk in the cauliflower topping... So good! I don't even think there will be leftovers.

Hazel said...

I can't thank you enough for making me a cooking goddess in my husband's eyes. He declared this was the best thing I've ever made for him! :) It was the first thing I've tried from your posts and I can't wait to try more! :) Thank you!!!

Kerri Heffel said...

Hazel, what a special comment! I'm so glad you found success in the kitchen. Keep me posted on other things you and Hubby enjoy. Cheers!

Jody said...

Guess what I am making tonight?! Yum!

City Share said...

Just found your site through "Cooking in Kenzo." This recipe looks great. We are needing some new inspiration. I'm going to pin it right now.

Kerri Heffel said...

City Share & Jo-- I hope you both enjoy the recipe! It has become very popular. Thanks for reading!

cltadams said...

Loved it. I did nut use the cream (not paleo) or coconut milk (didn't want a coconut flavor to my Shepherd's Pie) but opted for walnut oil instead and it came out great! You definitely need to double the amount of cauliflower. It will not come out looking like the picture if you use the amount listed above.

Kerri Heffel said...

cltadams--Thank you for your comments. I actually did use the amount I have listed in the recipe. Did you use fresh cauliflower? Or were they the same size frozen bags? Glad you enjoyed the recipe!

Jennifer said...

Has anyone tried this with a mixture of ground lamb and ground beef?

Kerri Heffel said...

Hey Jennifer-- I don't see why that wouldn't work. May be a little easier on your wallet too. Please let me know if you try it and how it turned out!

Jennifer said...

I made it tonight and it was yummy! I did 2 parts beef to 1 part lamb. I'm trying to refine my husband's palate which is /bread/steak/ketchup/candy to liking stronger flavors like lamb and real food. I really liked it, but I'm not sure he's sold on it though....he's suspicious of the mashed cauliflower (though I did put a few potatoes I had to use into it as well). Regardless, I will be making this again. Great recipe!

Kerri Heffel said...

Jennifer-- So glad this turned out well for you! My hubby was difficult to persuade to most things too, but keep at it. He's now eating buffalo and other stuff he once wouldn't have even dreamed of. Good luck!!

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Anonymous said...

This shepherd's pie recipe is the best! I've made it several times now and its my husbands absolute favorite! Thank you!

Unknown said...

Hi there! I'm going to try this on Sunday (excited!). Just wanted to clarify something, though. Do you mean to *yes*, use wine that you *would* drink with dinner? I was just a little confused with the phrasing here: "a few glugs of red wine (don't cook with a wine that you wouldn't drink with dinner. cooking with alcohol only concentrates the flavor you are using)"

Thanks for the clarification :-)
-Anjelica

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

I used butter and I used chicken stock in the cauliflower. This way I still get creamy but there is not the extra dairy which I do not tolerate well.

Anonymous said...

My first visit to your site and first recipe I've tried. Excellent! I've tried a few primal/paleo versions of Sheppard's Pie but this is my favourite - as good as my old pre-paleo recipe. Thanks. Looking forward to spending some more time here!

Unknown said...

Just made this! Amazing! I like it better than non-paleo versions I have made!

kesiha said...

I really wanted to make a real Shepherd Pie for the first time and this recipe was extremely tasty! What I wanted to mention is that the recipe directions forgot to mention adding the butter and milk to the potatoes! I completely forgot to add the milk but the potatoes were still divine!