This Italian Sausage Shepherd’s Pie is an homage to a dish my mom makes and amusingly calls “quiche.” It’s actually not a quiche at all; it’s more of a shepherd’s pie, but we’re neither French nor British so it doesn’t really matter what we call it. What matters is that it’s delicious and made often. The way my mom makes it is a layer of well-seasoned ground beef and shredded cheese sandwiched between two layers of creamy mashed potatoes baked to crispy, cozy doneness in a casserole dish. She even has a version that’s a spinach and cheese layer instead of meat as a vegetarian alternative. It’s kind of her signature dish (one of many), which she makes when a warm and comforting meal is the order of the day. So it’s pretty much welcome anytime.
This pretty casserole is incredibly easy to make and has only three major steps: meat filling, mash potatoes, then assembling and baking. My version varies only slightly in that I use ground Italian sausage as the meat layer, making this an almost lasagna-like flavor profile. This layer is essentially a tasty meat sauce that could be the base to a killer pasta sauce. It’s less wet and tomatoey, since we don’t want the pie getting weepy and soggy, but every bit as flavorful and meaty. Brown up some Italian sausage, broken up pretty finely as you cook it, add some onions, celery and garlic, then tomatoes and tomato paste and you have the hearty, beefy filling. Then you make the simple, smooth and creamy mash potato layer as you would any great mash potato side dish. Only this time its purpose is to act as foundation and roof for a tasty beef and cheese layer. Layer up into a baking dish with a healthy sprinkle of mozzarella cheese thrown on the meat for good measure, then bake it all up until the top is nice and crispy.
Once you slice into this savory meat and potato pie, you’ll see the beautiful layers created by the fluffy mashed potatoes and the molten sausage and cheese mix. All the comfort of a classic meat and potatoes dish is evoked in this novel interpretation. Try this fun bangers and mash Italian Shepherd’s pie next time you want to change up the traditional meat and veggie dinner formula.
