Shepherd’s Pie Made Light

I have a beloved cookbook that houses the recipes of some of our nation’s best Bed and Breakfasts.  One such recipe is for Shepherd’s Pie.  If you’ve never had it, it’s basically a roast beef dinner served in a casserole dish.  The beef, gravy and vegetables are on the bottom and then it gets “iced” with mashed potatoes! 

My cookbook’s recipe  contains a very detailed list of ingredients, including roast beef to make this delectable dish.  I don’t often have a roast on hand to make it, so I’ve learned that there is a simpler, but still delicious way to make a Shepherd’s Pie. It uses ground beef instead of roast. That makes it so much faster, but still delicious! 

My favorite new substitute for the roast is ground turkey, making it lower in fat.  Don’t worry – you still get the gravy, the vegetables and the mashed potato topping!  I like using just carrots and celery with the meat. I don’t want it to taste like a beef stew, but you could certainly add other vegetables to it. This is a great weeknight dish with all the hearty flavors your family will love!

Another blessing of this recipe is that you can make the whole thing up to two days ahead of time and pop it into the oven to heat up for dinnertime!

Here’s the easy recipe:

Shepherd’s Pie

INGREDIENTS

Potatoes:

• 1-1/2 lbs  potatoes, peeled, diced
• 3/4 cup fat free chicken broth
• 2 tbsp reduced fat sour cream
• salt and pepper
• paprika

Filling:

• 1 lb ground turkey (of course you could use lean ground beef as well)
• 1 tsp oil
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 celery stalk, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, diced
• 2 large carrots, chopped
• 2 tbsp flour
• 1 cup fat free beef broth
• 2 tsp tomato paste
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tsp freshly chopped rosemary leaves
• 1 tsp freshly chopped thyme leaves
• kosher salt and pepper

INSTRUCTIONS

• Boil potatoes in a medium pot of salted water until cooked and soft.
• Drain and mash with chicken broth, sour cream, 1/2 tsp salt and pepper, set aside.
• Preheat oven to 400°F.
• In a large saute pan brown meat over medium high heat, breaking the meat up with a wooden spoon as it cooks. Season with 1/2 tsp salt and pepper to taste.
• When cooked, set aside on a plate.
• Add the oil, onion, garlic, carrots and celery. (Add other vegetables of your choice) Sauté on medium heat about 6 to 8 minutes, until the vegetables are tender.
• Add the flour, beef broth, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, rosemary, thyme, cooked meat and mix well. Simmer on low about 8-10 minutes.
• Spread the meat on the bottom of casserole dish. Top with mashed potatoes and sprinkle with paprika
• Bake 20 to 25 minutes, then place under the broiler 1 to 2 minutes until the potatoes turn golden.
• Remove from oven and let it cool 5 minutes before serving

This would be a great dish to take to a new mom, someone recovering from illness or surgery, or a new family that’s moved into your neighborhood.  Add a salad (how about a copycat Olive Garden Salad?) and a biscuit (here’s my favorite recipe) and you’ll have a complete meal!

If you like make-ahead recipes, you might enjoy this one for Hot Chicken Salad!

With love from my country kitchen,