Thursday, August 13, 2009

Upside-Down Shepherd's Pie

This morning as I talked on the phone with my sister, she mentioned that she had the ingredients for shepherd's pie and would probably make it for dinner. From that moment on, I started craving shepherd's pie - man, that stuff is so good! It's one of those foods that my mom would make sometimes while I was growing up, and I've always loved it so much!

I wanted to make some for lunch, but by the time it occurred to me to start cooking lunch, it was already after 12, so there wasn't time to make the mashed potatoes and the filling and bake it - it would be far too late by the time it was done and we would all be far too hungry. So I came up with this faster version - serving the meat-and-vegetable filling over top of mashed potatoes. No heating up the oven and taking a long time to bake the pie. It ended up being a delicious alternative to the real thing!


Upside-Down Shepherd's Pie
1/2 lb. ground beef
1/2 onion
1 can green beans, drained
1 can diced tomatoes
1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
Salt, pepper, and garlic powder to taste
Mashed potatoes

Cook ground beef and onion until beef is browned and onion is tender. Add beans, tomatoes, and Worcestershire sauce. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and garlic powder, and heat through. Serve over hot mashed potatoes.

For the potatoes, I just cut up several baking potatoes (I left the skin on because I love it so much!) and boiled them until tender. Then I mashed them up with a bit of milk and mayonnaise (which made it nice and creamy), and salt and pepper.


This turned out so yummy! It had that awesome shepherd's pie flavor that I love so much from childhood, but was so much faster than the traditional version. This little meal is definitely one I'll remember and make again.

By the way, to make this into a regular shepherd's pie, just spread the filling into a baking dish, top with dollops of mashed potatoes (mix in an egg for added sturdiness), and sprinkle with shredded cheese. Bake at 350 until heated through and bubbly, about 30 minutes.

14 comments:

  1. yummy! shepherds pie has always been one of my favorite things too! this looks wonderful!

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  2. I LOVE shepherds pie. I see this and now I must have it too. Terrific idea to make it "upside down!" Fast and delicious! Excellent.

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  3. This looks so great...and sounds so much easier!! :)

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  4. We haven't had Shepherd's Pie in forever, but we might be having it really soon after reading this post :-D This would be the perfect dinner to have with the cooler (delightfully cooler!!) weather we've been having here.

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  5. I also haven't had shepherds pie in ages--I think the last time was during a pregnancy craving :-). THank you for reminding me of it--it's always such a simple, delicious meal. This version sounds great!

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  6. That is such a great idea!! I've never thought of that, but it would make is so much faster if you didn't plan ahead for dinner.

    I can't wait to try your recipe with diced tomatoes and Worcestershire sauch (I've always used tomato soup).

    Thank you once again for such a fun idea for dinner! Have a great day!

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  7. Yummy, I love Shepherd's Pie too, such a comfort food.

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  8. Oh, you are so much better than I! After talking about it and planning on it, I had to run errands I forgot about and it happened to be at dinner time. I had a lovely frozen Bertolli thing, and the boys were enthralled over their individual frozen pizzas. Bon Appetite! ;-)

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  9. I love shepherd's pie... cool quick twist!

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  10. My family loves shepherds pie, your version is terrific and quick! Isn't it funny how all things taste better on top of mashed potatoes! LOL!! I knew someone who use to make chili and serve it on top of mashed potatoes. It was really very good that way!

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  11. What a great idea! I'm one of those last minute meal girls so this would be great for me! :0)

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  12. I finally made mine the other day for lunch. Still had those potatoes floating around the fridge and had just frozen a bunch of cooked ground beef. So I dumped it all in a casserole dish, smeared on some mashed potatoes, and grated some cheese over it. Then microwaved it until the tomato and bean juices were bubbling out of the mashed potatoes.

    Really quick, and didn't heat up my kitchen! So yet another way to do it fast and easy...

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  13. Oh, that sounds so smart - I have to try that!!

    I have a really good recipe for Sheppard's Pie that uses Cauliflower. It's so yummy, has more veggies and is less calories. If you want it let me know and I will email it to you!

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