Shepherd's Pie

By Jess Kehoe, DPT

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It's winter, you are craving some comfort food.  Do you have some ground meat in your freezer? Some potatoes? Carrots, an onion and some peas?  Then you've got this tasty shepherd's pie.  I used ground venison that we had been given by some friends who hunt, and it was delicious.   Basically all you have to do is sauté up the veggies and ground meat, make some mashed potatoes and then bake for 15 minutes.  I have started using my InstaPot for making mashed potatoes and it's so easy, it does that work while you sauté.  You can also make them dairy free and honestly I can barely tell the difference.  

Ingredients:

1 onion, diced
1-2 carrots, sliced
1 cup frozen peas
1 lb ground beef 
6 small red or yellow potatoes
2-3 garlic cloves
1 cp bone broth chicken or beef
1 tsp rosemary
1 tsp thyme
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp tomato paste
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

Make the mashed potatoes in your InstaPot.  Pour in the 1 cup of broth, then poke holes in your potatoes.  You could certainly peel them if you prefer, but skins on makes it a bit more "rustic".  Place the potatoes on the little rack that comes with your InstaPot.  I drop 1-2 whole, peeled, cloves of garlic right into the pot for a little garlicky flavor (this is optional!).  Seal the top and pressure cook on high for 15 minutes.

While that is going, sauté the veggies and meat.  Place the diced onion and meat in a oven safe pan with 1-2 diced cloves of garlic and the spices and sauté on medium high until the meat is cooked through.  Then add in the carrots and peas, and continue for 3-5 more minutes.  Pre-heat your oven to 375.

When the potatoes are done remove the rack, add salt and pepper to taste, 3 tbsp butter and mash (I have a masher but you can also use a hand mixer).  If you want a little cheesy flavor you can add some parmesan or cheddar cheese, or if you are going dairy free 2 tbsp of nutritional yeast will give you that cheesy flavor also.  If your potatoes seem too dry add a little milk or dairy free milk to find the right consistency.  If you don't have an InstaPot, you can make these on the stove as you would make normal mashed potatoes.

Spread the potatoes over your meat misure and and bake in the oven for 15 minutes.  Finish with 3 minutes on the top rack and high broil to get a nice golden top.

Enjoy!