Sweet Potato Shepherd’s Pie times 2, that is! I made this meal for a new momma of twins in our neighborhood. It sounded so good that I decided to double the recipe, double the fun and make one for her family and one for our family.

The original recipe for this dish came from Today’s Parent. The one thing that I would amend is the time recipe preparation time. Unless you have ALREADY chopped all your veggies, boiled your potatoes, and maybe even pre-browned your meat, there is NO WAY that the recipe prep time will be 10 minutes as the linked article says.

It took me around 30 minutes to complete recipe prep. On top of that, do note that if you are taking this to new parents, it will also take longer than 20 minutes to cook the dish if it comes out of the refrigerator. I would bake it for 25 minutes, and broil the top for 2-5 minutes for that browned crispy effect.

This meal was savory, filling, and just what I needed on a cold day. Plus, the leftovers were DELICIOUS!!! Hope your Wednesday is brilliant.

XX, Megan

Ingredients

1 1/2 lb. Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and quartered
1/4 cup unsalted butter, divided
1/4 cup milk
3/4 tsp salt, divided
1/4 cup grated cheddar cheese, divided
1 cup peeled, chopped carrot
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped celery
1 lb. extra-lean ground beef
2 tsp chopped garlic
4 tsp all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sodium-free beef stock
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tbsp fresh thyme
1/8 tsp pepper
1 cup fresh or defrosted frozen green peas

Directions

Preheat oven to 425°F.

Place potatoes in a pot of cold salted water and bring to a boil. Cook for 15 min or until tender when pierced with a fork. Drain. Return potatoes to a pot over low heat for 1 min to evaporate any remaining water. Add 2 tbsp butter and mash until combined and fluffy. Add milk to loosen, season with 1⁄4 tsp salt and stir in half of cheese. Set aside.

Heat remaining 2 tbsp butter in large frying pan over medium. Add carrot, onion and celery and sauté for 5 min or until beginning to soften.
Turn heat to high. Add beef and garlic, and sauté, breaking up meat with a wooden spoon, for 5 min or until meat begins to brown. Add flour, stirring for 2 min to cook out floury taste.

Add stock, Worcestershire, mustard and thyme. Bring to a boil and simmer for 3 min or until broth has reduced and thickened and made the meat saucy. Season with remaining 1⁄2 tsp salt and pepper and stir in peas.

Transfer beef mixture to a deep 9-in. ovenproof casserole dish. Spread mashed potatoes overtop. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake for 15 min or until sauce is bubbling. Turn to broil and cook until potatoes are golden.

You can make this well ahead and refrigerate, but it will need more time in the oven to heat through.