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Shepherd's Pie

Okay, okay...I know Shepherd's Pie is traditionally made with lamb mince but I don't like it, and there aren't many things I don't like. My kids will tell you that I eat anything. I just don't eat much lamb. That being said, if you love lamb then you can just swap the beef in this recipe for lamb and it will work perfectly fine.

Now this is no Masterchef dish, you can tell by the pics (I put a 'trendy' filter on them so it looked better haha). This is just my own made up version of a simple dinner we used to have a lot as kids. I've skipped any gluten, dairy, eggs, nuts and soy so it's safe for most people with food allergies and you can pretty much just add whatever you feel like :)

It's a great dish for a cold winters night and it re-heats really well so if I know I'll be busy one night I sometimes even make it the night before or in the afternoon.

I used my Thermomix to grind up all of my vegetables on speed 5 until they were chopped fairly fine. Before I had a Thermomix I used to use an old food processor to grate up the veg but a hand grater is fine too!

In my Thermomix I blitzed the garlic first on speed 9 for 3 secs, added the onions in halves and chopped on speed 5 for a few seconds - not too long. I did the other vegetables separate after the onions so that I could cook the onions down a bit more.

Now I like to make a really big batch of this mince. I make one Shepherd's Pie for dinner that night and then I either use the left overs on toast for breakfast and lunches, or I freeze it sometimes for a quick dinner another night. This meat is also great in little pies if you've got time to make them.

Shepherds Pie - Happy Tummies

Shepherd's Pie

Gluten free, wheat free, dairy free, egg free, soy free, nut free

Ingredients:

2 large brown onions, finely diced
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
1kg quality beef mince
1 tbsp coconut oil (or oil of choice)
1 big zucchini, grated - mine was 350g and peeled so there was no green showing for fussy kids
3 or 4 carrots, grated - I used 350g carrot
A big hunk of pumpkin or sweet potato, grated - I used 250g
500mls - 750mls chicken broth or water
2 heaped tbsps vegetable stock if you make it (or as much as you like - just season as you like if you don't have home made stock paste with whatever you normally use)
2 tbsps corn starch (or arrowroot starch) + ¼ cup of water mixed together until smooth
1kg potatoes approx.
Dairy free milk (any type - I used oat milk but that's not gluten free)

Method:

Add the zucchini, carrot and pumpkin, 500mls of broth and stock paste or seasoning (reserve 250mls of broth)
Gently simmer away for about 45 minutes until the beef is well cooked and the vegetables are all soft
If it's a bit dry add some extra broth at this stage
Add in the cornflour mixed with water slowly and stir while you do it to thicken the left over juices. Let it simmer for another minute or two so the flour cooks a little
Heat oven to 180°C
Grease a dish to cook your pie in and place half the cooked mince mixture in the dish
Peel potatoes and chop, place in steamer to cook
When ready mash with milk (you could add butter here if okay in your family)
Gently spread potato over the top of your mince, I use two spoons
Bake in in the oven for approximately 30 minutes until cooked through and lightly brown on top
Remove from oven and eat with steamed vegetables! YUM :)

Tip: If you're in a hurry, cook the potatoes while the meat is still cooking so they're ready to go on the pie as soon as the meat is finished.

Enjoy!! Lisa x