Sweet Potato Shepherd’s Pie

It’s been a long weekend to week, if you know what I mean. One of those weekends where you didn’t get enough sleep, which then just exacerbates your laziness during the week. This has been that week for me.

“I danced so much Saturday night that my feet/body hurts”-> Excuse to not go to Monday yoga

“Lack of sleep and rainy weather is giving me a cold”-> Reason to never leave couch after work

Thus, I’ve been craving comfort food. Pizza, mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, cheesy anything: this is my kryptonite. With the weather starting to get cool down, and the November gray sneaking in, I knew it was time to cook up something that would warm me up. Something that I would be able eat while sitting on the couch watching a movie.

Sweet Potato Shepherd’s Pie

Feeds 6–8 people

Ingredients:

• 1 bag frozen peas
• 2 medium sized sweet potatoes
• 1 lb ground beef or lamb if you can find it
• 2 carrots
• 1 onion
• 1 Tbsp salt
• 1 Tbsp pepper
• 2 Tbsp butter
• a little bit of milk
• 1 Tsp worcestershire sauce
• malt vinegar to taste

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Boil water in medium size pot. Peel and rough chop sweet potatoes, toss into boiling water.

2. Peel and cut into fourths (Cut carrot in half lengthwise, then down the middle. Cut the larger half the same and the smaller half in half lengthwise. Then slice normally. This will give the carrots a consistent look.) Set aside, classic cut the onion.

3. Melt butter in large sauce pan and add carrots and onions. Allow to cook on medium until onions are soft.

4. Add ground meat to veggie mix, mix until browned. Add worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper. Allow to simmer.

5. Once sweet potatoes are soft, drain the water from the pot. Add in 1–2 Tbsp butter and mash the sweet potatoes. Add milk a tsp at a time until the puree is smooth.

6. Cook frozen peas according to directions and add to meat and vegetables. Transform mixture to a casserole pan, something like this. Top with mashed sweet potatoes.

7. Place pie in oven, cook for 20 minutes or until sweet potatoes lightly browned.

Serving options:

• I like adding a little malt vinegar to the top of my portion to bring out the flavors. But then I would add vinegar or lemon to everything.
• Switch regular potatoes for the sweet potatoes to keep it more traditional.