Curried Shepherd’s Pie

Instead of stirring peas into the mashed potatoes, I put them as a layer above the meat and then put the potatoes on top of them. Beautiful looking and delicious!

Very tasty once I doubled the amount of spices in the ground beef.

This was great. I used more curry, turmeric and cumin than suggested and added some grated sharp cheddar cheese to the top.

I have made this cottage pie twice but it was better the second time with these modifications: a) used a mix of ground beef, ground veal, sage sausage, b) reduced and thickened meat sauce by simmering longer and adding 1 T tomato paste, c) adding whisked egg to potatoes, d) topped casserole with dabs of butter and 1-2 T grated parmesan, e) baked 25 mins at 375 until top lightly golden and casserole piping hot. Much more enthusiastic reception second time around.

I find myself beginning to resent recipes that call for "imported tomatoes". Aside from the fact that they don't specify a provenance (Timbuktu, anyone?) I can't imagine that in a recipe such as this (or any other, really) domestic tomatoes wouldn't serve as well.

I made this with Pierre Franey's Pureéd Cauliflower (http://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1445-pureed-cauliflower) in place of the mashed potatoes. It tasted comfortably olde timey. Great winter dish. I wimped out and used 1 tablespoon of curry but might up it to one and a half next time.

Very nice flavor with the spices and tomatoes. However, next time I think I'll cook 3 T of flour in with the onions and garlic before I add the ground beef and broth for some thickening. And perhaps cook in an egg yolk with the potato topping. But we will make this again. In my supermarket 2 pounds of Russet potatoes was 3 potatoes. Go with the weight--the proportions between meat underneath and potatoes on top was just right.

Very tasty. The spices, in spite of the quantities, were not at all intrusive -- in fact I might add more hot curry. The peas in the mash were a great addition for color, taste and texture. Will do this with all future shepherd's and cottage pies. For two a half recipe made two pies -- one to eat with leftover lunch portion and one to freeze.

Double the spices regardless of your heat tolerance. It's far too bland when made with the posted amount. Turmeric makes a nice addition. A few pinches of paprika on top presents nicely.

Re the flour add; instead, try just letting the beef/tomato mixture simmer a while longer to reduce and thicken. This intensifies the flavor of the jus the preparation results in.

As written, everything is hot when you put it in the casserole so you just want a bit of color on the top. You can dot with butter, or brush with melted butter (my preference) and pop it in a very hot oven ~400 for 10 minutes or so until the top is to your liking. Hope this helps.

I made this with half the beef, a carrot, a celery stalk and garam masala in place of the spices. Used pureed rutabaga to top. It was delicious!

This was so tasty! I did the meat in my cast iron skillet and once the potatoes were ready I simply added them atop the meat and into the oven it went, which saved a dish. Will definitely be making this again. I shared some with a neighbor and he said “holy traditional English dinner Batman”

The original Shepherd's (leftover roast lamb) and Cottage (leftover roast beef) pie calls for the addition of HP or A1 sauce instead of the curry flavor. Taste it as you add until you have the flavor you like. Not like curry at all, so it should satisfy the curry hater in your house.

That would just be a regular Shepard's pie. Look up any recipe.