Shepherd's Pie

For Monday's dinner, I picked a recipe out of the Hot Dish Heaven cookbook I wrote about after Christmas. Lots of the recipes look good, but when I came across the one for Shepherd's Pie, I knew that was the one. I've been craving Shepherd's Pie for a while, now, so this worked out perfectly.

I've always loved Shepherd's Pie--I like that everything you need for dinner is all in one--protein, carbs and veggies. When you make it on your own, too, you can really add what you want and flavor it the way you like it.

This recipe was good--and fairly traditional--but it needed a little something extra. Next time I make it, I think I'll flavor the meat a bit more (more garlic, more Worcestershire sauce, some salt, maybe some spice). It was good, though, and very satisfying on a cold, winter night.

Shepherd's Pie (4 servings)

• 2 Tbs. oil
• 1 cup chopped onion (1 large)
• 1 clove garlic, minced or finely chopped (I used two cloves)
• 1 lb. regular or lean ground beef
• 1 large carrot, grated (or a 15-oz. can of sliced carrots or mixed peas and carrots, drained
• 1 Tbs. fresh thyme leaves or 1 teas. dried thyme
• 1.5-2 Tbs. Worcestershire sauce
• Few grinds black pepper
• I also added 1 cup frozen peas, thawed
• 3 cups mashed potatoes (leftover homemade, thawed frozen or prepared instant potatoes) (I made homemade mashed--boil chunks of potatoes for about 20 minutes, then add in milk, butter, garlic, salt and pepper and beat with electric beaters)

Heat oven to 375 degrees.

Heat oil in a large, heavy skillet. Add onion and garlic; stir fry until onion is translucent. Add ground beef, breaking it into chunks. Brown beef for a few minutes, then add carrots and thyme. Cook 5 minutes more. Stir in Worcestershire and pepper.

Spoon meat mixture into a 10-inch pie plate or 8-inch round baking dish. Soon mashed potatoes on top of meat mixture, making an even layer. Use the back of a tablespoon to make swirls in the potatoes.

Bake 25-30 minutes or until meat mixture bubbles and potatoes are golden.

This recipe was really easy, and I made everything Sunday afternoon and then just put it all together before baking it on Monday.

We served the pie with my favorite Brussels sprouts. Yum!