Crafts, Cooking, Farmers Market Addictions: Shepherds Pie recipe

This month's recipe is my easy, versatile shepherds pie. It's not really a pie, although you could add the mixture into a pie crust and make a savory pie, it's really a casserole. This is a family recipe from my grandmother that I grew up eating and have made myself for years. I've changed it up some, mostly using more fresh vegetables and also different kinds of ground meat besides hamburger meat. The basic recipe is a layer of browned ground meat, my grandmother always used hamburger meat but when I made this last weekend I used a pound of ground lamb and a pound of ground pork. The second layer is vegetables, typically carrots, onions, corn and peas, but I added broccoli, squash, sweet peppers, eggplant and garlic. You really can add any vegetables you like, and instead of an actual veggie layer, I just added them into the meat mixture, seasoned with seasoned salt, pepper, Tastefully Simple spinach and herb mix, Worcestershire sauce and Tastefully Simple bayou bourbon glaze. It's best if the meat has some kind of sauce added to it so it's not dry. Pour into casserole dish and add layer of mashed potatoes, sometimes I add cooked rice instead and top with shredded cheese. Another option to mashed potatoes is mashed cauliflower, or turnips, I like to add turnips and cauliflower to potatoes and mash them all together. Bake in oven for 20 to 25 minutes at 350 until bubbly and cheese is melted or heat in microwave for 10 to 15 minutes. Another great thing about this recipe is that you can do it in sections of time or delegate to others. The meat can be cooked and set it aside or frozen for later, my husband cooked mine while my daughter and I went out on an errand. I used vegetables that I had previously cut up and frozen plus fresh ones from the farmers market. My daughter cooked the potatoes before we went out then mashed them when we got home while I cooked the vegetables and added the cooked meat to them and put the casserole together. It could also be done a day before and put in the refrigerator prior to cooking and then cooked the next day. I made 2 medium casseroles, 1 for our dinner and the other my daughter took back with her and cooked later. The possibilities are endless, which is my kind of cooking. Plus leftovers heat up great in the microwave.

Here's the recipe:

meat and veggie mixture

Shepherd's Pie

1 to 2 lbs. ground meat, lamb, hamburger, pork or any combination, browned

1/2 c chopped onion

1 clove minced garlic

1/2 c chopped sweet peppers,

1/2 to 1 c chopped broccoli

1/2 c chopped carrots

1/2 c corn

1/2 c chopped eggplant

1 c fresh or frozen English peas

2 T Worchester sauce

2 to 3 T bayou bourbon sauce or steak sauce

1 t each seasoned salt, pepper, parsley or herb mixture

2 to 3 c cooked mashed potatoes

1 to 2 c shredded cheddar cheese

In large skillet, brown meat, drain off grease, add Worchester sauce, bourbon sauce, seasonings, eggplant, onions, garlic and carrots and cook until almost tender. Add rest of vegetables and continue cooking, adding peas last until all tender and combined, checking seasonings. In casserole dish, layer meat and veggie mixture, cooked mashed potatoes and top with shredded cheese. Bake in oven at 350 for 20 to 25 minutes until bubbly and cheese is melted or heat in microwave on high for 10 to 15 minutes until bubbly.