Shepherds Pie

Last night was a cold, rainy night and I felt the need for some comfort food.  I wanted to make something from ingredients I had in the house (this has become my new method of cooking lately), and I decided on an English staple dish, Shepherds Pie.  I knew it contained meat, potatoes and veggies and thought it would be a great way to get all my food groups in, in one dish. I added a few non-traditional spices just to amp up the flavor, but this is the kind of dish you can tailor to your own tastes. It's also one of those dishes that you can throw almost anything into and clear out your fridge with.

Sazi Shepherds Pie
4 medium Russet Potatoes
1 medium Onion
4 Garlic Cloves
3/4 lb-1lb Ground Beef (80/20)
1 tsp Cumin Seeds
1 Celery Stalk
1 tsp Garam Masala
1 tbsp Sundried Tomatoes
3/4-1 cup Frozen Mixed Veggies
2 tbsp Butter
1/2 Cup Fat Free Milk
1/2 Cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese
1/2 tsp Rosemary
Parmesan Cheese
Salt & Pepper 


>Peel your potatoes and cut into inch sized cubes. In a pot, cook potatoes until fork tender.

>While your potatoes are cooking, chop up your Onion and Celery and dice your Garlic and Sundried Tomatoes. Set aside.

>In a large skillet, cook your meat until there's no pink left.  Drain out all the excess grease and set meat aside.

>Now in your skillet, heat up a few tablespoons of Olive Oil. Once warm, add your cumin seeds and cook for 1-2 minutes or until they start to pop.  Lower the heat a bit and add in your Onion, Celery, Garlic, Sundried Tomatoes, and Garam Masala. The reason why this first photo looks like it has green leafs in it is because I used a basil infused Olive Oil.

>Once your onions have turned translucent, add in your frozen mixed veggies.  Cook for a few minutes just to thaw the vegetables and coat them in the spices.

>Add your meat and veggies to a large (9 inch) pie plate and mix thoroughly.

>Now it's time to go back to your cooked potatoes.  Drain your potatoes of all the water and put back in the hot pot you cooked them in.  Add your butter, milk, cheddar cheese and rosemary and mash until they have a mashed potato consistency.

 >To you pie dish, carefully spread the mashed potato mixture over the entire top portion of the pie. Sprinkle the top with as much or as little Parmesan Cheese as you'd like.  In a preheated oven, cook the pie at 350 degrees for 25 minutes, then place the oven on HI Broil and cook for an additional 4 minutes (the broiling makes the top of the potatoes crisp up - DELISH!)

Now you've got an impressive Shepherds Pie that could easily feed 4 people very well. Other ideas I had after cooking this dish was to incorporate some cheese in the meat/veggie portion to make it creamier. ENJOY! :)