Shepherd's Pie with a Twist

 As most of you know by now, I am a fool for shepherd's pie of any variety. Whether a mashed potato topping, beef or pork or turkey, any type of vegetable, gravy or tomatoes, this is my comfort food. So after freezing diced tomatoes with their juice a couple of weeks ago - yes, I will include the recipe for that - I went "aha!" when looking through our admittedly sparse pickings right now. We obviously 'dug into it' because this is the remnants of dinner tonight. Here is my little tutorial on one pot (and a casserole) Shepherd's Pie.

Frozen Diced Tomatoes

1. Wash all tomatoes thoroughly. I just put cold water in a sterilized sink and let them soakdwhile I prepared for freezing, then wiped them with paper towel before the next step to ensure they were cleaned (these were garden tomatoes)
2. Place water in a large pot - fill about half-way - add tomatoes and bring to a slow boil. Make sure the water covers the tomatoes totally so they can blanch properly.
3. Sterilize sink or use a large bowl, place ice water inside and let sit.
4. When skins start to split, turn off element and remove tomatoes one at a time with slotted spoon. Place in ice bath that you have created. Let rest until cool enough to handle. Dice each tomato with a paring or other sharp knife, placing in container with juice. Do not fill to more than 1 inch from the top of the container and pop on the lid.
5. Place in freezer or if you prefer, simply use right away in your favorite recipe (or this one).

Shepherd's Pie

Ingredients

• Potatoes 6 or 8 (enough for 2c of mashed potatoes)
• Diced tomatoes (1 1/2 c canned or as frozen above)
• Ground beef (approximately 1 lb)
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• Mixed vegetables of your choice
• Grated cheddar cheese (1 cup)
• Seasoning of your choice: salt and pepper, Italian seasoning, dry beef bouillion, a tbsp of ketchup, minced or chopped onions etc.

Preparation 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

1. Cook diced potatoes on medium heat in a saucepan with enough water to cover them and boil until tender when poked with a fork (approximately 20 minutes). Drain some of the water and mash the potatoes. You can add a splash of milk and a couple of tbsp of butter as well as 1/2 tsp pepper and 1 tsp salt for flavor and texture.

2. Brown ground beef in oil in a saucepan on medium-high heat with chopped or minced onions, stirring until brown (about 5-10 min.). Every stove is different so it's best to stay while the meat is browning.

3. Drain the fat from the saucepan (I used a small colander to make it easier).

4. Add diced tomatoes, frozen mixed vegetables and your choice of seasoning to the meat and stir gently with a spoon until heated through and thick - 10-15 min.

5, Pour into a 2 qt casserole dish. Spread mashed potatoes to cover the top of the casserole and sprinkle with grated cheese.

6. Bake in oven until the cheese is melted and the meat mixture begins to bubble and seep through the mashed potatoes. This will take approximately 30 minutes.

7. Let sit for 15 minutes with a piece of foil to cover the top to cool it slightly and enjoy! Great with a side salad or garlic toast. With any luck you will have left-overs for the next day.

Shepherd's (Sheppard's) Pie

I always had a romantic vision of this dish: probably after watching "Heidi" when I was young. I envisioned shepherds sitting it their little huts eating this dish after a long, hard stint on the hills. Maybe that's not so far-fetched, but lately I have been seeing it written as "Sheppard's Pie," not "Shepherd's Pie." I think I like my lonely shepherd version more :)

Shepherd's Pie

Ingredients:

• 4 oz green beans, chopped in 1 inch pieces
• 2 each yellow corn cobs (cut corn from the cobs) or use 1 can corn
• 4 each Roma tomatoes, diced
• 1 red and 1 yellow pepper, diced
• 1/2 sweet onion, sliced and diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 lb ground beef or chicken (I prefer beef)
• 1 c turkey gravy (the original recipe called for beef gravy)
• 1/4 c water
• 4 oz (1/2 an 8-oz pkg) Neufchatel or soft cream cheese)
• 1 c milk, divided
• 4 -5 medium potatoes, peeled, cubed,boiled and drained
• 1/2 c grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

1. Blanch green beans and cut corn in salted boiling water. Drain and set aside
2. Brown meat with garlic and onion. Pour off the excess fat. Stir in gravy, vegetables and water; simmer for 5 minutes or heated through, stirring occasionally. 
3. Microwave cream cheese and 1/4 c milk in medium microwavable bowl on HIGH for 30 seconds; beat with whisk until blended.
4. Mash potatoes with cream cheese mixture to make a creamy texture (not runny)
5. Spoon meat mixture into bottom of a large, greased casserole (I used "Pam"). Top with mashed potato mixture, spreading to edge of casserole. Sprinkle with Parmesan, swirling it gently into the potato mixture to give it a bit of texture and taste. 
6. Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 30 min. It gives the potatoes a nice golden edge and combines the flavors. 
7. Let sit for 10 minutes before spooning out of the dish. Serve with a green salad or your choice of side dish. It's literally a meal in a casserole.

Note from The Little Cook: The original recipe called for potato flakes. I prefer the 'real deal' to commercial. It also had the potatoes spooned on top of the meat combination to look like little ghosts, with pea eyes. Cute, but with just the 2 of us, we prefer it as a casserole. I have discovered that Neufchatel is much creamier for dishes such as this and tastes every bit as good with half the calories. I actually enjoyed cutting the corn from the cob, but some folks prefer canned or frozen corn. Whatever suits you best, or even better, whatever you have in the house to save you a bit of cash! Also, I think beef gravy would be very strong. I deliberately used turkey gravy (commercial) and we preferred the taste.