Shepard's Pie

There's nothing like comfort food on a rainy, fall Sunday afternoon.  I've had requests for my recipe for Shepard's Pie, so I thought I'd do a quick blog post to share.  It's so quick and easy and yummy and good and... well you get the picture.  Typically, only ground beef and peas are used in most Shepard's Pie recipes that I've seen.  I like more veggies than that so in my rendition I add one can each of corn, substituting green beans (instead of peas) and thinly sliced carrots (fresh not canned).  I think its a healthier version adding more veggies and its more colorful.  Typically I think that a cream soup is used instead of brown gravy also.  I prefer brown gravy.

Cook's Tip:  I forgot to line my cookie sheet with aluminum foil first, now I'll have a mess to clean up!

Recipe

2 lbs of ground beef 

(I used organic and I'm sure you could use ground turkey)

2 large jars of brown gravy or

4 packets of brown gravy mix

1 chopped onion

1 tsp chopped garlic

1 can of corn

1 can of green beans or peas

(Typically peas are used.  I like green beans better)

4-6 carrots sliced thinly

8-10 servings of instant mashed potatoes

4-6 cups of shredded cheddar cheese (to taste)

Brown the ground beef in a fry pan.  Add the chopped onion/garlic and simmer until ground beef is fully cooked,  drain off excess grease. Add the brown gravy to the beef/onion mixture, simmer for 5 minutes. While this is cooking make the instant mashed potatoes (7-10 servings) according to package directions.  (I like a good one inch layer to my Shepard's Pie).  Layer the ground beef mixture into a 9x11 casserole dish.  Add the corn, beans and carrots, mix all together. Spread mashed potatoes over the top covering all.  Sprinkle with cheddar cheese over the mashed potatoes to taste.  Place the casserole dish onto an aluminum foil lined cookie sheet (to catch spills).  Cover with aluminum foil (spray mine with Pam on the inside so it doesn't stick to the cheese).  Bake in a 375 degree oven for 30-40 minutes or until bubbling.  Take the aluminum foil off for the last 10 minutes to brown the cheese.

Enjoy!

A couple of in-process pics

All the ingredients mixed together before mashed potato topping.  Make sure you get the carrots mixed into the gravy good because they still need to cook.

Mashed potato and cheddar cheese topping added just before the oven.  My shredded cheddar was frozen from the freezer.