Shepard's Pie

Can you believe my husband has never had Shepard's Pie? You'd think after almost 10 years of marriage I would have realized this or made this dish before last night. I'll admit its not one of my favorite dishes in the world but its a great cheap meal if you use leftovers. I'm not a fan of mashed potatoes which is probably the best reason why I don't love this dish. The best thing about Shepard's pie is you can adjust the ingredients to what you have on hand. Plus its a quick to fix dinner if you have leftover mashed potatoes or those instant potatoes (BTW I find these to be even more disgusting than mashed potatoes but I realize some people like them). Here is how I made my Shepard's pie the other night:

In a cast iron skillet over medium high heat I placed-

1 pound ground beef

And cooked until it was losing the pink color. I then added

1 onion chopped

3 garlic cloves minced (I love garlic but if your not a fan don't use as much or don't use at all)

After the ground beef was cooked and the onion soft I made gravy in the pan with the cooked ingredients:

1 1/2 cups water

1 beef bouillon cube crushed

2 tablespoons cornstarch

black pepper to taste

I let the gracy thicken then I added about 1 1/2 cups frozen vegetable soup mix to the mixture. Mixed until all the ingredients were combined then spread mashed potatoes over the top. I placed the cast iron skillet in the oven at 375 degrees and cooked for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes I added some cheddar cheese to the top of the potatoes and cooked for another 5 minutes which is about how long it took the cheese to melt.

It ended up tasting great and it was all done in one dish so less cleanup. Remember you can use whatever ingredients you want in this to customize it for you and your family. And you don't have to use ground beef you can use ground chicken or turkey.