Shepherd's Pie

Let’s be clear. Shepherd’s Pie is made with lamb (hence ‘Shepherd’) and Cottage pie is made with beef. End of story. You made a Shepherd’s pie but you used beef? No, you made Cottage pie. So when you pick up a Shepherd’s Pie from Trader Joe’s, be warned. I love that place but they are selling you Cottage Pie, not Shepherd’s. How do I know? I’m from Britain, trust me,
Now that’s out of the way, let’s get down to it. Fall is here, days are getting chillier and it is the perfect time to make Shepherd’s pie. Before discovering frozen mashed potatoes (and here I do commend Trader Joe’s, theirs are particularly good) this meaty feast was relegated to weekends, now it can be enjoyed any day of the week sans the dread of having to peel, boil and mash potatoes. Bliss!
This pie is pretty straightforward, but your choice of equipment for cooking and baking can make quite a difference. 
When sautéing the filling, choose a deep, wide pan or pot with steep sides. Don’t use a frying pan. Frying pans result in a dry mixture and you want your pie to have a velvety, bubbling sauce when serving. But you still want enough space to cook everything evenly and get a little bit of caramelization on the bottom.  I use a cast iron, enamel dutch oven. OK, I admit it, it’s Le Creuset and I love it. 
The baking dish you use is also vital. Again, go for deep sides and a smaller bottom. This will retain more liquid and you will have a deeper, more satisfying pie rather than a thin layer of meat and potatoes. 
Serves 4
1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive
1 large onion chopped
2 medium carrots diced (please, use a food processor and keep your sanity if you’re busy)
1 pound ground lamb, yes lamb! Did I mention that this is SHEPHERD’S pie and not COTTAGE pie???
1 tablespoon of fresh rosemary, chopped
1 tablespoon of fresh time leaves, chopped
1 bay leaf
1 glass of red wine
¼ cup of beef stock or broth
2 tablespoons of tomato paste
½ cup of frozen peas
Salt
1 28 ounce bag of frozen mashed potatoes

• Preheat the oven to 400 f
• On medium to high heat the oil and add the onion
• Fry for about five minutes
• Add the carrots and fry everything until it begins to brown and catch a little on the bottom, this adds richness and complexity to your gravy. To get this, don’t keep moving everything around with your spatula. Let the vegetables sit and stick a little but don’t let them burn
• Add the lamb and brown, about ten minutes
• Add the herbs and wine, stock and tomato paste and mix well. Be sure to scrape the bottom to get all the tasty bits into the sauce. 
• Taste and add salt
• Add the peas, still frozen
• Mix well, remove from the heat 
• Pour into your dish
• At the mashed potatoes, still frozen, to the top and distribute evenly  - they will shrink down while cooking
• Cover with foil and cook for ten minutes (this helps the potatoes defrost evenly)
• Remove foil and cook for a remaining 25 minutes or until the top starts to brown and the gravy starts to bubble up the sides. The potatoes still keep the disc shape they were in when frozen and it looks a bit like marshmallows, but once you dig in everything is fine. 
• Serve with steamed, buttered vegetables such as broccoli or green beans