Ground Beef and Mashed Potato Casserole (French Hachis Parmentier)

Hachis Parmentier is a French casserole made with layers of mashed potatoes and beef, topped with cheese. This dish is a fantastic recipe that uses leftover pot roast and turns it into new comfort food. Hachis parmentier could be considered the French version of Shepherd’s Pie or Cottage Pie. And it's quite possibly the originating dish for French Canadian Pâté Chinois. Upon first glance, these dishes do look quite the same. All are casserole dishes made with a layer of seasoned meat that is topped with a layer of mashed potatoes. Hachis parmentier, however, started out as a way to use up leftover pot roast. So, you will often find the meat in hachis parmentier is a finely chopped, cooked roast. While the meat in shepherd's pie or cottage pie is often ground meat (beef or lamb) that is cooked at the time you make the filling. Hachis Parmentier was named after Antoine-Augustin Parmentier (1737-1813), the man who introduced the potato to French cuisine.

Mashed Potatoes:
2 lbs russet potatoes, peeled and diced
3 Tbsp. butter
½ cup milk, warmed slightly
sea salt
black pepper, freshly ground

Meat Mixture:
1 Tbsp. butter
1 onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
4 cups beef roast, cooked, minced (roughly 1 lb)
2 tsp. ground parsley
sea salt
black pepper, freshly ground
¼-½ cup beef broth (as needed)
1 egg, lightly beaten
¾ cup Parmesan cheese, freshly grated

In a medium pot over medium high heat, bring the potatoes to a boil in lightly salted water. Boil until very tender, roughly 15 minutes.

Once the potatoes are tender, drain the water and mash them with the warm milk and 3 Tbsp. of butter.

While the potatoes are boiling, heat 1 Tbsp. of butter in a large sauté pan. Add the onion and garlic and sauté over medium heat until softened, 3-5 minutes.

Add the chopped beef to the onion and garlic mixture. Mix well. Season with parsley and salt and pepper as needed. The seasoning level here will depend on your roast’s flavour. Add a splash or two of beef broth if the meat mixture looks dry.

Remove the pan from the heat and add the beaten egg. Mix well.

Preheat your oven to 400°F (200°C/180°C fan, Gas Mark 6). Grease an 8x8" baking dish.

Spoon roughly 1 cup of mashed potatoes into bottom of the prepared dish. Spread to cover the bottom of the dish. Add the meat mixture, spreading to make it even. Top with the remaining mashed potatoes. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

Bake the dish for 20-25 minutes, until the cheese is golden and you can see little bubbles coming up the sides (if using a glass baking dish).

Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

Makes 5 servings.

Cook's Notes:

• You can also make this dish using 4 cups of leftover mashed potatoes. If using leftover mashed potatoes, warm them slightly and re-mash with a little milk and melted butter, until they are smooth and creamy for spreading.
• If you don’t want to make this dish using leftover pot roast, you can also make it using 1½ lbs raw, lean ground beef. Simply add your raw ground beef to your softened onions and garlic and cook until the beef is cooked through before continuing with the recipe.