Guest Post: Mushroom Shepherd’s Pie Potato Skins with Mushroom Gravy

We have guests in the kitchen! Loreto & Nicoletta of SugarLoveSpices are sharing their new take on a comfort food classic.

This recipe is a fun play on the classic Irish shepherd’s pie. All the lovely ingredients of this comfort food nestled into beautiful potato skins. It’s cheesy, it’s luscious, and most of all, scrumptious. The addition of the mushrooms in the meat and gravy, adds such a wonderful deep flavour. Kids and grown-ups alike will love this dish. A great way to get those veggies in!

Ingredients:

• 390 g ground lamb
• 1 medium Cipolline onion, chopped fine
• 2 medium carrots, peeled and diced
• 1 stalk of celery, diced
• 1/4 cup peas (frozen or canned)
• 1/2 cup canned corn
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
• 1/2 tsp each rosemary, thyme, oregano, ground coriander
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 Tbsp butter
• 2 tsp tomato paste
• 8 cremini (or button top) mushrooms
• 4 Russet potatoes
• 3/4 cup grated Gouda (or Gruyere, white Cheddar, etc.)
• 1/3 cup half and half cream
• 2 Tbsp butter
• 2 Tbsp sour cream
• salt and pepper
• 2 green onions, chopped

Gravy:

• 2 Tbsp butter
• 2 Tbsp flour
• 2 cremini (or button top) mushrooms, sliced
• 1 cup beef stock
• salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:

1. Wash potatoes skin on, and pat dry. Rub with olive oil, wrap in foil paper, and put in a 400°F oven for 40 minutes or until fork tender.
2. In a cast-iron skillet, drizzle in olive oil and add butter.
3. Toss in onions and sauté for a minute, then add ground lamb and continue sautéing breaking up the lamb as it cooks for 10 minutes.
4. Add garlic, parsley, mushrooms (reserving some for the gravy), all the spices. Stir well, then spoon in tomato paste. Stir again and taste for seasoning. Cook for an additional 15 minutes. Turn off the heat and set it aside.
5. While meat is cooking, in another sauté pan, add some olive oil and toss in all the vegetables (carrots, celery, corn, peas). Season with salt and pepper and sauté on low to medium heat for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
6. Cut potatoes in half, scoop out all the insides into a bowl, and reserve the skins. Make sure not to scrape too much as we want a firm bowl for the filling.
7. Add butter to the potatoes in the bowl, pour in the cream, and sour cream. Season with salt and pepper, then mash.
8. Place potato skins into a 9×13 oiled baking dish.
9. Spoon a couple of teaspoons of the mushroom/lamb mixture into the potato skins, top with some of the vegetable mixture, add grated cheese and then top with the mashed potatoes. Then sprinkle on some grated cheese and chopped green onion.
10. Repeat this process until all your potato skins are filled.
11. Place in the oven that has been preheated to 375°F for 15 minutes, or until cheese has melted.
12. Take out of the oven and serve with gravy on top and on the side with a sprinkle of chopped parsley.

For the gravy:

1. In a medium saucepan, heat up butter, and toss in sliced mushrooms. Cook on low to medium heat for 2 minutes. Sprinkle in flour and stir till paste forms. Slowly pour in beef stock, and continuously stir until it thickens. You can adjust the consistency by adding a little bit of water. Taste for seasoning and adjust if needed.

To check out more recipes from Loreto and Nicoletta, you can follow them on their cooking adventures on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.