Shepard's Pie

I was trying to think of something to make for dinner that was easy last night. I wasn't feeling well, woke up hurting that morning. So dinner was one of those, oh geez, I have to do that again type things. I was at a loss. I remembered a recipe I had yrs ago for Shepard's Pie. I swear I wrote it in my own personal cookbook too. I searched everywhere for it and couldn't find it. I know that's weird and I know when I least expect it, it will pop up again. That happens a lot to me lol.

And so I searched online and found a few but I felt like they were missing something, so I chose the one I liked best and did what I always do....I tweak it to make it my own. Here's my version....not far off from others but I will say it was so yummy, I am looking forward to the leftovers for lunch today. BTW I forgot to take a picture of it so what you see is from online but mine did look like that.

Shepard's Pie 4 servings

    3 lg potatoes, peeled and cubed
    1/2c. sour cream or softened cream cheese
    1 large egg
    Salt and freshly ground black pepper
    1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
    1 3/4 pounds ground beef
    1 carrot, peeled, quartered and sliced
    1 med. onion, chopped
    1 lg. garlic clove, minced
    4 mushrooms, chopped
    2 tablespoons butter
    2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
    1 cup beef stock or broth
    2 teaspoons Worcestershire
    1/2 cup frozen peas
    1 teaspoon sweet paprika
    1/2 c. shredded Cheddar cheese
    2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves


Boil potatoes in salted water until tender, about 12 minutes.
While potatoes boil, preheat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add oil to hot pan with beef . Season meat with salt and pepper. Brown  meat for 3 or 4 minutes. When meat has lost most of its color, add chopped carrot, mushrooms, garlic and onion to the meat. Cover and cook veggies with meat 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove lid and stir in peas, paprika and parsley. In a second small skillet over medium heat cook butter and flour together 2 minutes. Whisk in broth and Worcestershire sauce. ( I use Knorr Beef paste so I added a tsp or so of that to a cup of water instead) Thicken gravy 1 minute. Add gravy to meat and vegetables.

Drain potatoes and pour them into a bowl. Mix sour cream and egg together.  Add the sour cream and egg mixture into potatoes and mash until potatoes are almost smooth.
 
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Fill a small rectangular casserole with meat and vegetable mixture. Spoon potatoes over meat evenly. Top potatoes with cheese and bake until potatoes are evenly browned. Top casserole dish with more chopped parsley and serve.


*ground lamb can be substituted. I love lamb but the bf doesn't so I used beef. If there's too much grease left in the pan when browning, remove it before you add the veggies.