Entree / Beef: 30 Minute Shepherd's Pie

From Shelly Carey

Ingredients
2 lbs Yukon Gold potatoes
2 Tablespoons sour cream or softened cream cheese
1 large egg yolk
½ cup cream (for a lighter version substitute chicken broth)
Salt
Black pepper
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 ¾ lbs ground beef
1 carrot, peeled and chopped
1 onion, chopped
2 Tablespoons butter
2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup beef stock or broth
2 teaspoons Worcestershire
½ cup frozen peas
1 teaspoon sweet paprika
2 Tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves (or dried)

Directions
Boil potatoes in salted water until tender, about 12 minutes. Drain potatoes and pour them into a bowl. Combine sour cream, egg yolk and cream. Add the cream mixture into potatoes and mash until potatoes are almost smooth.

While potatoes boil, preheat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add oil to hot pan with beef. Season with salt and pepper. Brown and crumble meat for 3-4 minutes. Add chopped carrot and onion to the meat. Cook veggies with meat 5 minutes, stirring frequently. In a second small skillet over medium heat, cook butter and flour together 2 minutes. Whisk in broth and Worcestershire sauce. Thicken gravy one minute. Add gravy to meat and vegetables. Stir in peas.

Preheat broiler to high. Fill a small rectangular casserole with meat and vegetable mixture. Spoon potatoes over meat evenly. Use fork and drag across the top of potatoes to make decorative score marks. Top potatoes with paprika and broil 6-8 inches from the heat until potatoes are evenly browned. Top casserole dish with chopped parsley and serve.

Note: This is a favorite of Doug’s. If you want to make the recipe more quickly, you could buy pre-made / store-bought mashed potatoes.