A lovely twist on a British classic dish
Roast Duck Shepherd’s pie is a dish I love to cook; it makes a different version of Sunday lunch or a great dinner party dish. Should it be called a shepherd’s pie? Strictly speaking, no, but who cares, so whatever you call it is a lovely plate of food.
I first saw a similar recipe on a Rick Stein programme; he used Confit duck legs, but I prefer to roast my duck legs (it’s also more accessible). I’ve also added diced veg to mine. Our good friends at Hush also have a confit duck version on their menu & I have been told it’s trendy. I must try their version soon, hint hint.
Although the prep time is about 2 hours, you can prepare it the day before and leave it in the fridge until needed; then, when your guests arrive, it’s simply a case of putting the pie in the oven to heat up—an excellent easy way to entertain guests without any stress & certainly a crowd-pleaser.
Goes really well with a full boodied red wine or a pint of real ale.
Duck Sheherd's Pie
Print RecipeIngredients
- 4 Duck legs
- 2 carrots
- 4 Shallots
- 2 sticks of celery
- 175ml Red wine
- 200ml Chicken Stock
- Thyme
- Potatoes 800gm
- Grated Cheddar Cheese
Instructions
Start off by Roasting the duck legs on a low heat in the oven until the meat is falling off the bone -about 90 minutes. Strip the meat off the bone and allow to cool. In the meantime finely chop carrots, celery & shallots. Add olive oil to a pan & gently fry off the vegetables, once softened add the duck meat & finely chopped thyme to the vegetable mixture. Pour in the red wine and allow to reduce before adding the stock and simmer for 10 minutes. In the meantime boil the potatoes (peeled & chopped) for about 25 minutes until soft. Mash the potatoes add milk (or cream) and plenty of butter & season well with salt & pepper. Add the duck & vegetables to a baking dish & place the creamy mash on top. Sprinkle the cheese on top of the mash. Cook for about 30 minutes in the oven, for the first 15 minutes cover with foil then remove the foil. Serve with green veg or red cabbage. One extra tip is that I usually make additional red wine stock & serve it in a gravy boat.
