Shepherds Pie

First off, sorry I have been so MIA the last few weeks. John and I moved - don't worry we still live in San Diego - and moving is a b!tch! I will get back into the swing of things now, so don't you worry!

In my last post, I made some delicious garlic mashies and I promised a recipe to use the leftovers. Drum roll please...Shepherds Pie. This is just a delicious bowl of comfort and so tasty! If you have the mashies already made, this is a cinch to put together. It is definitely also a make ahead meal if you want to prep it then pop it in the oven for 45 mins to 1 hour at the end of the day.

Shepherd's Pie
Makes 4 large individual pies or 1 large casserole (9" x 13")

Ingredients:

• 4-5 cups of leftover garlic mashed potatoes (or make them from scratch)
• 1.5 lbs ground meat (I used 85/15 ground beef, but use whatever you want - lamb, pork, chicken, turkey)
• 1 medium onion diced
• 2-3 carrots diced
• 4 stalks celery diced
• 5 cloves garlic minced
• 1 cup frozen corn (optional)
• 2.5-3 cups beef stock
• 1-2 tbsp corn starch
• Salt and pepper to taste

How to Make Shepherds Pie:

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. If your mashed potatoes are already made, start here. If they are not, then go to this recipe and make your potatoes and set aside to cool. 
2. Over medium hight heat, brown your ground meat in a large skillet. Salt and pepper to taste. 
3. Add in all of your veggies and let cook for 3-4 mins. You still want them toothsome because you are going to bake them. 
4. Add in your beef stock and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and let reduce by about 1/3.
5. Mix your corn starch with about .5 cups of cold water. Pour this into your meat mixture while stirring. Let thicken to the consistency of a thick gravy. 
6. Prepare your casserole dish or individual ramekins by spraying with cooking spray. 
7. Spoon your meat mixture into your vessel of choice until about 2/3 full. 
8. Top with mashed potatoes. 
9. Place in the oven and bake for 45 mins to 1 hour. You will see the filling start to bubble, so that is when you know it is done. To avoid messes, I place mine on foil lined baking sheet just in case they spill over. 

Just the meat mixture. 

Topped with mashies.

And baked until they are delicious and golden brown!

Be careful when you first dig in because these will be piping hot! 

Enjoy!

~H