Shepherd's Pie

Since it's a chilly, snowy March week, I decided to make something perfectly wintery and comforting: Shepherd's Pie!

Apparently my mom had made this when I was growing up, but the first time I ever remember having it was when my former roommate made it. Her version had peas and carrots, so that is what I expected. I was using a Weight Watchers recipe though and neither of those were featured.

I am very proud that I finally remembered to take pictures! One is WW's version, so you can see how it's SUPPOSED to look (I forgot to take a picture of the finished product in the casserole dish, but do have one on my plate).

Classic Shepherd's Pie
Was POINTS® Value: 9
Now POINTS® Value: 5
Servings: 6
Preparation Time: 25 min
Cooking Time: 42 min
Level of Difficulty: Moderate

WW Description: Seasoned meat and vegetables are nestled under creamy mashed potatoes and then baked to form a sensational, savory pie.

Ingredients
1/4 cup fat-free sour cream
1 tbsp reduced-calorie margarine
1/8 tsp table salt, or to taste
2 tsp olive oil
1 cup onion: chopped
2 medium carrots: diced
2 medium celery stalks: diced
1 pound uncooked ground turkey breast
3 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 tbsp fresh rosemary: chopped (or 1 tsp dried)
1 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp table salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
2 cup(s) canned chicken or beef broth

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400ºF.
2. Place potatoes in a large saucepan and pour in enough water to cover potatoes. Set pan over high heat and bring to a boil; reduce heat to medium and simmer 10 minutes, until potatoes are fork-tender. Drain potatoes, transfer to a large bowl and add sour cream and margarine; mash until smooth, season to taste with salt and set aside.
   

   

   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
3. Meanwhile, heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion, carrots and celery; cook until soft, about 3 minutes.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   Add turkey and cook until browned, breaking up the meat as it cooks, about 5 minutes. Add flour, rosemary, thyme, salt and pepper; stir to coat. Add broth and bring to a simmer; simmer until mixture thickens, about 3 minutes.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
4. Transfer turkey mixture to a 9-inch, deep-dish pie plate (I used a casserole dish - not sure if that's what they mean by pie plate). Spread mashed potatoes over top and using the back of a spoon, make decorative swirls over the top.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   Bake until potatoes are golden, about 30 minutes. Slice into 6 pieces and serve.

I didn't have dried rosemary and didn't feel like using fresh and I don't think I have thyme either. So instead, I had 1 tbsp and 1 tsp of Italian seasoning.

My only big problem was that after adding the broth, I turned the heat down to simmer (no, it doesn't say to turn it down, but simmer usually means low heat) - I think I should have left it on medium though. It never "thickened" (whatever that means) and was quite watery, despite letting it simmer for much longer than 3 minutes and eventually turning the heat up. The only problem with the watery-ness was that after cutting it into 6 pieces and taking my 1st piece, it all sort of fell into that hole! So I have no idea if my portion sizes were correct. :-/

Also, it says to add the flour and other ingredients and mix to coat. I did, but I don't know how well those 3 tablespoons coated the entire meat/veggie mix. Maybe another reason why the broth didn't thicken?

I was not able to make swirls in the mashed potatoes because 1) I don't have a masher, so mashing them was a bit difficult and there were some chunks and 2) they weren't that creamy - I even added a tad more sour cream.

This was extremely tasty! The only real prep work is chopping the potatoes, onion, carrots and celery (plus peeling the potatoes & carrots) and maybe measuring out everything else first. I wish it made more than 6 servings, but I guess next time I can either do smaller servings or double the recipe.

I will definitely be making this again. I was able to freeze 3 servings and it was a relatively easy recipe (albeit messy) for a great tasting meal!