Shepard's Pie

I have fond memories of Shepard's Pie. But probably not for any reason you would think of...
So I'd like to tell you a little story before I get to the recipe part.

After living in Charlotte alone for over 6 months, Paul came to visit for Valentine's Day weekend. Since we were both pretty tight on money we decided that it would be more romantic for us to make dinner together at home. For some reason we thought that Shepherd's Pie was a romantic meal. 
After a long day of work at my new retail job, I was exhausted. So the meal went from cooking it together to mostly Paul cooking it. I wandered into the kitchen at one point and Paul kindly asked if me would get some sour cream and green onions from the fridge for him. I sauntered over and started to root around in the crisper for the onions. (That's where I would normally put them.) In annoyance from not finding what he had asked for, I turned to see Paul on one knee. My face burned with continued annoyance since I thought he was playing a mean joke on me. He asked again politely for the ingredients. So I turned back to the refrigerator to see the ring placed on the lowest shelf of the fridge. I just stood gasping as he proposed. I hugged him tight with tears in my eyes and said "Yes". (Of course.) The hug was long but Paul was still able to slip a hand out to continue to stir the meat that was browning on the stove.

This week I decided to find a reason to use these cute ramekins I bought a long time ago, Shepard's Pie seemed like the perfect thing to make. I found a recipe on Gina's Skinny Recipes, so I thought I'd give it a go.


Shepard's Pie


Potatoes:

• 1-1/2 lbs Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled, diced
• 3/4 cup fat free chicken broth
• 2 tbsp fat free sour cream
• salt and pepper
• paprika

Filling:

• 1 lb 95% lean ground beef
• 1 tsp oil
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 celery stalk, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, diced
• 8 oz mushrooms, diced (I didn't add these to mine.)
• 10 oz frozen mixed vegetables (carrots, corn, peas, green beans, baby lima beans)
• 2 tbsp flour
• 1 cup fat free beef broth
• 2 tsp tomato paste
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tsp freshly chopped rosemary leaves
• 1 tsp freshly chopped dried thyme leaves
• salt and pepper

Boil potatoes in water until cooked and soft. Drain and mash with chicken broth, sour cream, salt and pepper.
Preheat oven to 400°.
In a large saute pan brown meat. Season with salt and pepper. When cooked, set aside on a plate. Discard any fat in the pan, add oil, onion and garlic and sauté on medium heat about 2 minutes. Add mushrooms and celery and sauté another 3-4 minutes. Add flour, salt and pepper and mix well. Add frozen vegetables, beef broth, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, rosemary, thyme, chopped meat and mix well. Simmer on low about 5-10 minutes.
Spread the meat mixture on the bottom of a 11x7 glass baking dish (I made mine in two ramekins and a 9x9 dish). Top with mashed potatoes, using a fork to scrape the top to make ridges and sprinkle with paprika. Bake 20 minutes or until potatoes turn golden. Remove from oven and let it cool 10-15 minutes before serving.

So cute and so tasty.

Its nice to do memorable meals like this during special events, like anniversaries or Valentine's. But at the same time, why not do them year 'round? Tonight it made me reminisce about my wonderful proposal and appreciate my loving husband. And there is nothing wrong with that.


I hope you enjoyed my random story and I hope you will enjoy this tasty dish.


Make some memories of you own. ;)