Shepherd's Pie

A fall/winter favorite at our house is Shepherd's Pie. Good comfort food that is easy to tweak to your own tastes. I'm including a couple of sauce variations you can try. This can also be done in the crock pot when you need to eat in a hurry, just layer the ingredients and cook on low for 6-8 hours.

3/4-1 lb. ground beef

1 T. olive oil

1/2 c. chopped onion

1/2 t. salt

1/4 t. pepper

2 c. grated cheese ( I use 1/2 c. sharp cheddar)

12-16 oz. frozen veggies ( we've tried green beans, mixed veggies, peas, and corn- the favorite is the bag of organic mixed veggies from Costco)

1 - 10 oz. can tomato soup

6 small potatoes, mashed with some of the cooking water

1/2 cup milk

1 t. salt

Start by chopping potatoes and putting them on to boil. In a skillet, brown beef in the oil. Add onion , salt and pepper. Saute until onion is tender. Transfer to a 9x13 baking dish (this is what the recipe calls for, but I have found it fits nicely in an 8x8 square dish). Top meat mixture with frozen veggies. Pour tomato soup over top. Drain potatoes, reserving some liquid, mash. Add milk and salt, spread over soup. Top with cheese.

If you must use instant potatoes, get the potato pearls from the Church cannery. They are excellent.

Sauce variations: 

Brown the beef with 2 T. Worcestershire sauce, 2 T. ketchup, and 3/4 c. of beef broth. Top with veggies and potatoes. Omit the tomato soup.

Brown the beef with 2 T. Worcestershire sauce. Add a packet of brown gravy mix to 1 cup water, stir into browned beef. Omit the tomato soup.

Enjoy!