Does anyone have a really good shepherd's pie meat recipe? It's going into homemade crust with homemade mashed potatoes with decent cheese -

I recommend the hachis parmentier recipe from Dorie Greenspan. No crust, but absolutely divine. Even the shorter recipe is wonderful.

Here's how I make it, with a mashed potato topping - but use whatever you want, of course! https://food52.com/recipes/33318-scrummy-shepherd-s-pie ;o)

I wasn't going to responds as the idea of putting a pie crust atop a Shepherd's Pie is not a thing I would condone. However, you deserve a good recipe.

First brown copious amounts of Ground Lamb. If you use beef you're making a cottage pie which has a different flavour profile.

So brown lamb so that it gains a crust such as you would want on a good steak.

Remove from pan, leaving the fat. Reduce heat. In that lamb fat slowly sweat finely diced garlic and onions. When they've started to turn golden brown, sprinkle over a spoonful of flour and stir that into the fat. Return the lamb to the pan along with enough red wine or dark beer to cover. Add (either finely minced or in a bouquet garni) herbs. Rosemary, Thyme, Parsley, Chervil. Bay Leaf. Lean heavier on the Rosemary than the Thyme. Allow the meat melange to slowly reduce until the liquid is all but gone. Tomato (in the form of Passata) is often used here too. Loosen up with lamb stock. Not so that it's a soup, but so that it is moist. Season to taste with Worcestershire Sauce, Salt and Pepper. The object is to have very very savoury meat. Allow to cool.

Make silky mashed potatoes with confit garlic, plenty of butter and an egg yolk or two. The egg yolk will aid the browning. Add chives and parsley., season well with salt and pepper.

Put the meat mixture in a low casserole dish. If you want to add a few (a few is better than a lot) frozen peas, now is the time. Frozen because they're more likely to retain their colour and not over cook. Using a piping bag cover the top with the mashed potato mix. Microplane some good Parmesan or Peccorino over the top. This the only place where cheese is needed in the dish, as it adds savouriness.

Place in hot oven until the potato is brown and crispy.

We saute mushrooms and onions in some butter then add ground beef (we used ground venison once it was amazing). Brown the beef and add gravy. We usually layer the beef in the bottom of a casserole dish and add frozen peas and corn and shredded cheddar, then pile on the mashed potatoes. Sprinkle the top with some chili powder or paprika. We used to do mashed potatoes on the bottom as a kind of crust but that gets to be a lot of pie. I wonder how puff pastry would work on the bottom, par baking it first. I'll have to try that next time.

yes! but this is the one I use.
Freeze the leftover meats, gravy and veg from the number of Sunday luncheon you need to create your pie. Mince everything together when slightly defrosted. I've never tried indecent cheese?