True, family-friendly comfort food. Shepherd’s Pie or Cottage pie is just always a crowd pleaser. It can be bulk prepared, frozen, used for lunches and eaten as leftovers. It’s incredibly versatile as well as it lends itself to many different subtleties and flavour variations. This recipe is different each time I make it depending on the type of topping, the variety of ground meat and choice of vegetables. Be creative and modify the recipe to your family’s tastes and needs. This is a good way to use up leftovers.
Ingredients:2 pounds potatoes, peeled, cut into cubes (may use sweet potatoes, or any combination of root veg. I love to incorporate parsnips, Jerusalem artichoke, cauliflower, you can also use, celeriac, turnips, swede) 2 tablespoons olive oil ½ teaspoon salt ¼ teaspoon pepper ¼ teaspoon nutmeg OR 1/16 teaspoon of ground clove 2–3 tablespoons cooking water from potatoes or Bone Broth |
1 tablespoon olive oil 2 pounds ground meat: lamb, beef, turkey or a combination 1 onion chopped ½ teaspoon cinnamon 1 teaspoon oregano or marjoram Vegetables: 1 cup frozen peas, 1-2 grated carrots, 1 grated zucchini, green beans or chopped kale (or ANY other greens such as collard greens, Swiss chard, etc.) I also like to add small lentils to the ground meat mixture. |
Instructions:
Boil potatoes / root veggies in salted water until tender. Drain reserving some of the cooking liquid or bone broth. Mash with olive oil (or I love to use some coconut cream), cooking liquid as needed and seasonings. Set aside.
While potatoes are cooking, heat oil in a large skillet and sauté onion for 1–2 minutes. Add ground meat and cook stirring until meat is cooked through and crumbled. (Strain fat from meat if excessive.) Season with cinnamon, oregano, salt and pepper. Stir vegetables into meat mixture.
Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Spoon meat and vegetables into a 3‐litre casserole dish. Top with mashed potatoes. Bake for 30 minutes until heated through and the top is browned. May be served with horseradish.
Serves4-6
