Venison Cottage Pie

Hearty and delicious, shepherd's pie has always been a favorite. We thought we'd try using venison instead of lamb. If you don't use lamb, the right terminology is "cottage" pie. I've stumbled across a few forums  about this... let's just say, some English people get a little hostile if you don't use the right word.

Servings: 4

Ingredients: 

- 2 tsp. olive oil, extra for drizzling

- Sea salt and black paper

- 1-1/4 lb venison, diced small

- 1/2 white onion, finely chopped

- 1 carrot, finely grated

- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

- 1 tbs. tomato paste

- 2-3 tbs. fresh rosemary, finely chopped

- 1 cup red wine

- 1/2 a shallot, thinly sliced

- 2 tsp. all-purpose flour

- 1-3/4 cup beef stock 
- Worcestershire sauce, a few splashes

Mashed Potato Topping:

- 1 lb red potatoes

- 4 tbs. softened butter

-  2-3 ounces grated Parmesan

- 2 large egg yolks

- 1 tbs. Italian flat-leaf parsley

1. Peel and cut potatoes into equal sized pieces. Boil in salted water until tender.

2. Trim venison, removing all silver-skin. Dab with paper towel. Cut into small cubes. Note: I have small hands. 

3. Season venison cubes with sea salt and pepper to taste.

 4. Heat 2 tsp. olive oil in a deep 10-12 in. pan, preferably a dutch. Cook the shallots just until they're about to turn color. Add the venison and brown.

5. Add onion, carrots, and garlic. Cook for 4-5 minutes, or until veggies soften, stirring frequently. You can add peas if you want. But don't add it now. We should've waited. See step 11.

 6. Add Worcestershire sauce, tomato paste and rosemary. Cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly.
 

 7. Pour in red wine and let it boil until nearly completely reduced.

8. Stir in flour and cook for 1-2 minutes. This cooks out the flour taste. Then, slowly pour in beef stock while stirring and bring to a boil. Simmer for 30 minutes, or until the venison is tender and sauce thickened.

9. Meanwhile, drain potatoes well and return to hot pan. Mash in butter, Parmesan, and salt and pepper to taste.


10. Beat in egg yolks. It's important to do this last, to let the potatoes cool a little. You don't want scrambled eggs in your mashed potatoes.Stir in parsley. Set aside. 

11. Heat oven to 400 degrees F. 60 seconds before the venison mixture reaches the right thickness, stir in the peas. Don't worry if you're using frozen peas. It will get plenty of heat in the oven. Spoon mixture into a baking dish. 

12. Spread mashed potatoes over the venison mixture, starting from outside to middle. With a fork, fluff peaks into potato. Sprinkle with black pepper and drizzle with olive oil. 

13. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until hot and bubbling and top turns golden brown.

14. Enjoy with ice cold beer. :-)












Please let us know what you think about this recipe by leaving comments. Just click on the red "comments" button below and it will lead you to a form. We value your feedback. Thanks! 

Like Food for Hunters on Facebook!