Creamy Pork and Mushroom Shepherd's Pie

This is a newer recipe for our household which I made up because my husband brought the "wrong stuff" home from the grocery store a few weeks ago.  Since then, I've made it a couple a time, fine tuning until I got to this version, which suits my family's palette very nicely.

The first try started as just the meat dish and I threw the potatoes together as an after thought, but once we had tried them together, I knew they were a perfect mix for shepherd's pie and I'm a sucker for individual servings, so my 4 inch ramekins were called into action.

The other advantage of this dish is that the meat is cooked in the crock pot, so you can let it cook all day and then come home and pull together the rest of the dinner in short order.

To begin, I used 1 1/2 pounds of country style boneless pork short ribs.  I put these in a single layer in the the bottom of my slow cooker.

I added 2 beef bouillon cubes to the pot

along with 1 cup of red wine.

When all those ingredients are in the pot, I made a garlic herb paste to coat the top of the ribs.  I started with one head of garlic

sliced each clove

and then roughly chopped.

I took several sprigs of rosemary, removed the leaves from the stems, coarsely chopped them

and added them to the chopped garlic. 

Next, I took an equal amount of thyme, again removed the leaves from the stems and added to the garlic, herb mixture.

Add approximately 1 tablespoon of Kosher salt

and 1 tablespoon of freshly ground black pepper to the mixture.

Finally, add enough olive oil

that when you mix you have a nice paste.

Use this paste to coat the top of your pork ribs.  Now, put the cover on the crock pot, set on low and walk away for about 6 hours.

Midway through the cooking, you want to turn the ribs over.

And here is a secret.  This is why it is so nice to cook the ribs in red wine (apart from the fact that wine is good).  Sometimes when I cook ribs in the crock pot, they look gray, and to me, gray is gross in food.  But look at this rib, which I'm in the process of flipping.  The bottom half, which was down is nice and pink.  The result is nice, flavorful, appetizing looking ribs.

At any time during the cooking process, you can get the potatoes for the top of the shepherd's pie ready.  I used 3 large potatoes and cut each potato into eighths. 

Boil the potato pieces for about 15 minutes or until very soft.

The entire recipes calls for 16 ounces of mushrooms, but take about 1/3 of the mushrooms now

and finely dice.

Now take 2 tablespoons of butter,

and add to a saute pan with the mushrooms.

Season liberally with salt and pepper.

When the potatoes are soft, drain with a colander and return to the sauce pan. 

Add 3 ounces of cream cheese,

2 tablespoons of butter,

1/4 cup of cream

and a dollop of sour cream.  To answer your question, I haven't calculated the nutritional info for this dinner, but it probably isn't low fat. 

Mash it all up.  I like my potatoes a bit lumpy, but if you don't, you can use a mixer instead of doing this by hand.

When everything is combined, add the sauteed mushrooms

and stir to combine.  At this point, you can cover and set the potatoes aside.

We are getting to the end, so preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  For the filling to the shepherd's pie, I used 1 onion, the remainder of the mushrooms and 12 oz of cherry tomatoes.

Dice up the onion

and then cut the tomatoes and mushrooms in half.

When the meat is done, it should fall apart when you pick it up with the tongs.  Remove it to a plate

and then dump the liquid from the crock pot into a large saute pan.

Add the diced onion to the pan and simmer over medium heat for about 5 minutes.

When the onion is soft, add the halved mushrooms and continue to cook for an additional 5 minutes.

After 5 minutes, add 2 tablespoons of butter,

and a 1/4 cup of cream to the saute pan.

Finally, pre-mix 1 tablespoon of cornstarch with 2 tablespoons of water and add to the pan.  This will thicken the mushroom sauce

While the sauce is thickening, you can use a fork or your fingers to break up the pork meat.

As a last step, add the halved tomatoes

and pork to the sauce and stir to combine.

If things seem a little dry, you can add a slosh of red wine to the mixture.

As I said in the beginning, I'm a fan of individual servings, so I use four 4" ramekins for this dinner, but you can use a larger casserole if desired.

I equally divided the meat mixture between the ramekins

and then topped them with just a bit of Parmesan cheese.

Top each ramekin with an equal amount of potatoes and then pop them into your preheated oven for 30 minutes.  The nice thing about this dish is that you could stop right here, wrap the dish in foil and refrigerate for another night.  If you do this, just make sure to increase your baking time to an hour.

When the ramekins come out, they should be nice and bubbly.

You can serve each person an individual pie

or you can scoop them out onto a plate.  Either way, they are delicious.  Enjoy!

Creamy Pork and Mushroom Shepherd's Pie
serves: 4  (Recipe also on Tasty Kitchen)

• 1 1/2 lbs country style boneless pork short ribs.
• 2 beef bouillon cubes
• 1 cup red wine
• 1 head garlic cloves, roughly chopped
• 3 sprigs rosemary, chopped
• 3 sprigs thyme, chopped
• 1 T Kosher salt
• 1 T freshly ground pepper
• 2 T olive oil
• 3 large potatoes
• 16 ounces mushrooms, divided
• 6 T butter, divided
• Salt, to taste
• Pepper, to taste
• 3 oz cream cheese
• 1/2 cup cream, divided
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 T cornstarch
• 12 ounces cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Place ribs in a single layer in the the bottom of slow cooker.  Add bouillon cubes and wine to the crock pot.  Prepare garlic herb paste by combining garlic, rosemary, thyme, Kosher salt, pepper and olive oil.  Use this paste to coat the top of ribs.  Cover, set crock pot to low and cook for 6 hours.  Midway through the cooking, you want to turn the ribs over.
Clean and cut 3 large potatoes into eighths. Boil for about 15 minutes or until very soft.  Finely dice 5 ounces of the mushrooms.  Saute mushrooms with 2 tablespoons of butter and salt and pepper to taste.  Drain the potatoes in a colander and return to the sauce pan. Add  cream cheese, 2 tablespoons of butter, 1/4 cup of cream and sour cream.  Mash to desired consistency.  Add sauteed mushrooms and stir to combine.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. When the meat is tender, remove to a plate and dump the liquid from the crock pot into a large saute pan.  Add the diced onion to the pan and simmer over medium heat for about 5 minutes.
When the onion is soft, add the remaining mushrooms, cut in half, and cook for an additional 5 minutes.
Add 2 tablespoons of butter and a 1/2 cup of cream to the saute pan.  Finally, pre-mix cornstarch with 2 tablespoons of water and add to the pan. While the sauce is thickening, you can use a fork or your fingers to break up the pork meat.  Add the cherry tomatoes and pork to the sauce and stir to combine.

Equally divide the meat mixture between four 4" ramekins and then add a layer of Parmesan cheese.  Top each ramekin with an equal amount of mashed potatoes and cook in preheated oven for 30 minutes.