In the Kitchen with Don: Cottage Pie for the Irish! (Includes Vegetarian Option)

I know, I know! It's been quite some time since St. Patrick's Day and the first time I made this Cottage Pie. But we've been busy cooking - and a bit of other "stuff" as well since then- and the time just seemed to zoom by. But we're ready now!

But before we talk Cottage Pie- and the Irish- let's talk POTATOES! Wild strains of potatoes have grown through out the America's for many thousands of years. They were "domesticated" for use as food by the Inca Indians in the Andes sometime between 8000 and 10,000 BC. So potatoes have been around for a long, long, long time! They were introduced to Europe by the Spanish in the later part of the 16th century after the Spanish conquest of the Inca nation. They soon became popular in all of the European countries. Though initially primarily eaten by the wealthier member's of these countries it eventually became a main crop of the poor- especially in Ireland. The potato could be grown on very small plots of ground- and often was the single crop for the poorest of the farmers. Eventually it was the Potato Blight in1845 with resulting famine that created the largest migration of the Irish to the "New Country" causing over a million of the Irish people to die and another million to immigrate to the new world. When the Spanish brought the potato from the Inca's in the mid 1600's, they neglected to bring but one variety even though there were thousands that grew in the Andes. This lack of biodiversity made the potato more vulnerable to disease which resulted in the Potato Famine 200 years later.

Now to Cottage Pie! The term Cottage Pie is known to have been in use since 1791. It referred to the use of left over meat in a "pie" that had as it's crust the mashed potato. This name predates the name "Shepard Pie" which is the same as a Cottage Pie but uses lamb. The meat in Cottage pie can be practically anything- fish, beef, lamb, chicken- though most often it is beef or lamb! The name probably originated in England or Scotland but since the new world was introduced to this by the large Irish immigration to this country it seems so very, very Irish!

Now most often Cottage Pie has as it's topping the mashed potato- but then Don particularly doesn't like mashed potatoes layered across anything- likes his straight up with gravy on top sitting next to the meat. I'm not sure I'd ever made Cottage Pie. But then we were having company on St. Patrick's Day and though the desert selection was easy- Bread Pudding with an Irish Whiskey Sauce (now that is really, really, really good- I'll show you how to make some day!), it was a bit harder to decide on the entree. And then I had it- Cottage Pie- with lamb! I went on the search for recipes!

Let's get started cooking- so gather the ingredients!

Cottage Pie: adapted from Anne Burrell of the Food Network and Martha Stewart

Ingredients:

Pie Filling:
2 tbsp of olive oil
3-4 pounds of lamb or beef, cubed (The amount of meat depends on how much meat to vegetables you want your pie. You may also use 6-8 cups of a mixed variety of mushrooms if you'd like a vegetarian option.)
2 large leeks, sliced in thin cross sections
3 stalks of celery, diced
3-5 carrots, diced
4-6 cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 cup of tomato paste
1 cup of red wine (I used a Spanish Red in tribute to the Spaniards who brought the potato to Europe)
2-4 cups of vegetarian broth as needed for desired consistency
1 tbsp Anchovy Paste (My secret ingredient!)
Thyme, fresh tied in a cheesecloth bundle
2 Bay leaves
Salt/Pepper to taste (start with a tsp of each and increase to your taste)
1 cup peas, added at the end
Flour and Cream to thicken after Filling has cooked if needed. (I didn't need the first time so didn't add- I did the second and used 1/4 cup of flour blended with 1 cup of cream- I put the flour and cream in a small bowl and used a stick blender- and then added to filling. You could substitute milk if you didn't have cream on hand.)

Pie Topping:
2 baking potatoes, very thinly sliced. (We used a mandoline.)

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Dry meat with a paper towel.
Heat olive oil in a large dutch oven and add the lamb when oil is hot. Brown on all sides.
Add the leeks and cook until softened.
Next add the celery and carrots and garlic and soften for approximately 5 minutes.
Add in tomato paste and wine- Spanish for us!

Add the broth to desired thickness. Bring to gentle simmer.
Place in oven and leave unattended for 3 hours. I checked every hour for desired doneness of the lamb. I used a fork- and wanted the meat cooked well enough so that the fork prongs could easily pierce the meat. I was also checking that there was still enough liquid in the pot- add more broth if the filling is getting too dry.
Remove from oven when meat is done. It is at this time that you add the flour/cream if the meat filling is too thin for the pie. You can let the filling "rest" covered on the top of the stove until you're ready to put the pie together.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place the pie filling in a shallow baking dish (9x13). Top with the sliced potatoes.