Shepherd's Pie

Shepherd's Pie has always been a favorite in my family. I loved it growing up and now we love it in our family. I think it's a great family recipe because you can put what your family likes in it. I've made a lot of versions of this dish. The original dish is made with lamb but we often use ground beef. I've also made it with ground turkey and topped it with mashed sweet potatoes. This dish is also a great way to use leftover meat. Some of our favorite shepherd's pie has been made with leftover roast pork loin. This recipe is the basic one I use when we have shepherd's pie, but feel free to change it up. Use whatever veggies your family likes. This time I added some carrot and it was yummy!



Recipe (Serves 4-6)

olive oil
1 onion, diced
1 stalk celery, diced
2 carrots, diced
salt and pepper
1 lb ground beef
1 T tomato paste
2 T flour
1 1/2 c beef stock (with pork or ground turkey I would use chicken stock)
1 bag frozen corn
1 recipe Mashed Potatoes (from about 2 lb potatoes)

Preheat oven to 375.
In a large skillet over medium heat, heat a couple tablespoons of olive oil. Add onion, celery, and carrot, and saute until just tender. Season with salt and pepper. Move veggies to the side of the pan, raise heat to med-high and add ground beef. Brown meat, breaking up with wooden spoon. Add tomato paste and cook for an additional minute. Sprinkle over flour and cook 1-2 minutes more. Slowly add beef stock and cook until thickened. Taste and season with salt and pepper as needed. Pour beef and gravy mixture in a casserole dish. Top with corn and then spread on mashed potatoes. At this point you can also top the potatoes with shredded cheese. Bake in oven for 35-45 minutes until potatoes are golden brown on top.