Make it Monday! Easy Shepherd’s Pie

After making somewhere around seven pounds of mashed potatoes for a family dinner where one would expect people to heap potatoes on their plate, somehow, I ended up with at least three pounds of leftover.

Not wanting my hard work, or my beautiful potatoes, to go to waste, the following week became about how to use these leftover potatoes.

As a general rule, I don’t eat leftovers. I’m just one of those people who has problems getting over the fact that leftovers are old food and their flavor has been compromised. However, potatoes are one of those things if you dress up right, you’ll never know they were leftover.

When I was first married, I made shepherd’s pie with fresh mashed potatoes. But, seriously, that’s the wrong way to make this dish. Shepherd’s pie should be something thrown together on a night where you’ve already got too much going on, but thankfully you have leftover potatoes and that’s half the battle of this dish.

I’ve made a fancy shepherd’s pie where you chop veggies and create your own gravy, but again, I feel like the point of this meal is to be quick and easy. So, that’s what I’m giving you today.

Here’s what you’ll need:
– 1 lb ground beef
– 1 onion, diced
– salt/pepper
– 2 cups frozen mixed vegetables
– ½ cup condensed tomato soup
– ¾ cup beef gravy
– 2 + cups leftover mashed potatoes
– ½ cup cheddar cheese

Traditionally, lamb is used in shepherd’s pie, but because lamb is more expensive*, we’re using ground beef.

*And to me, easy also equals cheap.

Preheat your oven to 350°. Then fry the onions and ground beef together until the meat is mostly cooked through.

Drain the fat, then season with salt and pepper.

Mix in the veggies.

Add the tomato soup and beef gravy, mix, and allow to heat through.

Dump the mixture into a casserole dish.

Top with the leftover mashed potatoes. You can cover the mixture completely or let little bits peek through. It all depends on the look you’re going for…prim and proper?…or rough and rustic?

Now here’s the best part. Sprinkle the top with some cheddar cheese.

At this point, you can toss it in the oven, uncovered, and let it cook until the cheese is melted and the mashed potatoes are rejuvenated.

But, if you’ve got a dozen other errands to complete before dinnertime, you can put this beauty in the refrigerator and pull it out a little over an hour before you want to serve it. Let it sit at room temperature for a half hour as the oven preheats, then cook for 45 minutes.

Easy, hearty, satisfying.