Shepherd's Pie

I am not a Rachael Ray fan. Maybe it is the nasally, raspy voice, the uber-annoying hand gestures, or the fact that she makes Italian food which I don't really like. But her 30 Minute Shepherd's Pie is awesome. True to her word, it takes only 30 minutes from start to finish. Less really, if you use leftover mashed potatoes like I do.

You will need:

2 cups mashed potatoes
1T oil
1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef
1/2 cup chopped carrots
1 small onion, chopped
2T butter
2T flour
1 cup beef broth
2 shakes Worcestershire
1/2 cup frozen peas
sprinkle of paprika and parsley


(I didn't take a picture of all of the individual ingredients.)

Rachael suggest 2lbs of potatoes mashed with 2T sour cream, 1 egg yolk, and 1/2 cup cream or chicken broth. I don't bother with all that. I just use leftover mashed potatoes from dinner the night before. This dish is great after Thanksgiving and you can substitute leftover turkey for the beef.



If you used a fatty ground beef, don't use the oil, but I use 97% lean so when I brown my ground beef I add 1T of oil to the pan.



Turn the burner onto medium high heat, stirring often. Add the onions and carrots.



While it all cooks, add the Worcestershire sauce to the beef broth. (I use 3 beef bullion cubes added to boiling water.)





When that is done and your ground beef and veggies are still cooking away, add 2T butter to a small pan over medium heat. When it melts add 2T of flour. I used white whole wheat, but any flour is fine.



Whisk together, bring to a boil, and cook for 2 minutes. Whisk constantly.



Then stir in the beef broth mixture, keep stirring for one minute. The gravy will thicken, but won't be thick.






By now your ground beef is perfectly brown with no pink remaining.



Stir in your gravy...



and the frozen peas.



Stir to combine.



Pour into an 8-inch baking dish. Usually I use a rectangular one, per Rachael's instructions, but on this occasion I had cheesecake bars in my pan so I had to settle for round. Turned out just fine. :)



Spread the leftover spuds on top.



Sprinkle a little paprika and some parsley on top. Fancy it up.



Turn your broiler on high. I put my top rack three rungs down in the oven so that the potatoes are not too close to the broiler.



Broil for 3 minutes or until the potatoes have browned slightly.



Time to feast, as Tink always says.



This recipe will feed a family of four with about a portion leftover--unless you also have a Tink in the house. Skinny as a rail, but she can put away more food than Bubba!



Enjoy!