My first shepherd’s pie

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This is the first shepherd’s pie I’ve ever made or eaten and I didn’t follow a recipe so I’m not sure how it compares to the traditional version.

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That said, it was awesome and the whole family was raving about it, so authentic or not, it was a winner.

I got the idea to make it when I was brainstorming what to do with the leftover mashed potatoes from Christmas. I was thinking of using them in a soup as a kind of thickener to make it hearty and creamy, but then I got the idea to use it as the topping of a shepherd’s pie and couldn’t get the idea out of my head. It made the dish soooo easy to pull together.

For the inside portion, I was tempted to go veggie and use lentils, but ultimately decided to use ground turkey. For the veggies, I used shallots, (rehydrated) dried mushrooms, carrots, celery, parsnips, and peas. Plus fresh thyme and rosemary from the garden.

Then I layered the mashed potatoes on top and cooked it in the oven.

Turkey and Veggie Shepherd’s Pie

Ingredients:

• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 large shallot, minced
• 1/4 cup dried mushrooms
• 3 stalks celery, diced
• 3 large carrots, diced
• 1 large parsnip, diced
• 1 tbsp rosemary
• 1 tsp fresh thyme
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp ground sage
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1/2 cup peas
• 1 lb ground turkey
• 1 cup chicken stock or veggie broth
• 2-3 cups mashed potatoes

Directions:

Add the olive oil to a large (oven safe) pot. I used my large stuab cast iron pot. Add the mushrooms and shallots and saute until the shallots are translucent, then add the celery, carrots, and parsnips with half the salt. Put the lid on the pot and cook covered until the veggies are starting to soften, 7-10 minutes. When you lift the lid off, let the condensation flow into the pot and use it to deglaze the pot a bit before adding in the ground turkey.

Scrape most of the veggies to the side and add the ground turkey, letting it cook in it’s own area as much as possible. Leave the lid off and turn it as it browns, cooking all sides. Add the rest of the salt and the herbs and let the meat cook for another 5 minutes and then add the stock/broth. Scrape all the cooked bits off the bottom of the pan and incorporate into the dish.

Leave the lid off and stir everything together, cooking until the liquid has reduced by half.

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Add the mashed potatoes in an even layer on top of the meat and veggies.

Cook in the oven for 25-30 minutes until you can see bubbles coming up around the sides and it has darkened in color on the edges.

Scoop and serve.

We all had seconds and then started fighting over who got thirds. 😛