Shepherd's Pie - Version One

The original recipe, which can be found here, called for frozen mashed potatoes. I’ve never heard of that (other than as part of a tv dinner), but was willing to give them a try. However, all I could find at the grocery store was frozen chunks of potato, which you cooked and mixed with milk to make mashed potatoes. It didn’t seem any faster or less work than cooking my own potatoes from the pantry, and buying the frozen version definitely wouldn’t save money, so I made my own. I also followed the original instructions to cook the baby carrots in the microwave, but it would have been faster and easier to cook them on the stove-top, and regular carrots (peeled and cubed) would have been cheaper. I’m not sure who was in charge of creating this recipe, but they definitely weren’t interested in saving time and money. 

That said, we did enjoy it. The Cheesy Carrot Mash was interesting, but in the future we’d rather have our carrots as part of the meat pie filing and not mixed into the potatoes. How about you?

Cottage Pie with Cheesy Carrot Mashed Potatoes

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 cups mushrooms, sliced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 3/4 cup frozen peas, thawed
• 2 teaspoons beef boullon granules
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 1 (14 oz) can diced tomatoes
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 1/2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 12 ounces baby carrots
• 2-3 potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1/4 cup milk
• 3/4 cup cheddar cheese, grated

Cook the ground beef until browned; drain off any grease. Add onions, mushrooms, and garlic and cook until softened. Stir in peas, beef boullon, thyme, salt, pepper, and flour. Add tomatoes, bay leaf and vinegar, and bring to a boil. Simmer for a few minutes while preparing the topping.

Cook carrots and potatoes, in separate pans if desired (or in the microwave) in boiling water until tender. Drain. Add butter to carrots and coarsely mash. Add milk to potatoes and mash. Combine the two mixtures; stir in cheese. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and thyme.

Remove bay leaf, then place meat filling in a greased casserole. Top with Cheesy Carrot Mash, smoothing to edges. Bake for 15 minutes at 400 degrees. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.