Shepherd's Pie

Raise your hands if you've ever had Shepherd's Pie before. No? Well, you should.

Shepherd's Pie is a meat (usually beef) and veg casserole topped with mashed potatoes and warmed through in the oven. With as simple a formula as that is, you can imagine the infinite possibilities. It is a great meal for leftovers since you can use ANY type of meat that is hanging out in your fridge or freezer. I've used brisket, roasted chicken, even taco meat. Add frozen veggies (or leftover cooked veggies) and top with some mashed potatoes. If everything is warm it takes just a few minutes in the oven to brown the potatoes and warm it through. Or you can leave it in the fridge for a couple of days and have a mid-week dinner done in a flash (just pop in in the oven to heat up- everything is cooked already)!

So where is this going? Smoked Turkey Shepherd's Pie, recipe #2 in Rachel Ray's 365: No Repeats cookbook. This used bacon and ground turkey as the meat; sauteed carrots, onions, celery, and bell pepper for the veg; and (of course) mashed potatoes with peas for the topping. The ''smoked" part came from smoked paprika and the smokey bacon. I added a little bit of poultry seasoning and topped the whole thing off with a bit of smoked Gouda cheese to boost the flavor even more.

The inner workings...

I then divided the ingredients into three smaller casseroles for three separate dinners (each of the three could feed 3-4 people). If I wanted to, I could have covered the casseroles well and put them in the freezer for much later, but I gave away two of them to family and saved the third for us. (By the way this recipe is written to feed four, but as you can see it really is more like eight or more, especially if you add a salad and rolls along side... Rachel has big appetite).

Really what could be better?

Happy eating!