Okay, so I have leftover lamb from dinner yesterday, leftover turnips and some mashed potatoes from a few days ago. This all adds up perfectly to make a Shepherd’s Pie. It will be quick, easy and a great way to use up the leftovers. You can make shepherd’s pie with ground beef instead of ground lamb if that suits your tastes better, but since I have the lamb anyway, and that is the traditional ingredient, than why not?

Shepherd’s Pie

3 cups lamb, cooked and diced

1 tablespoon butter

1 small yellow onion, finely chopped

2 carrots, finely chopped

3/4 cup frozen peas, thawed

1 cup beef broth

1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme

2 cups  cooked and cooled mashed potatoes

2 cups cooked, pureed and cooled turnips

Take the 3 cups of lamb and run through a food processor until ground. Set aside. In a large saucepan or skillet over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the onions and carrots and cook, stirring often, until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the peas, ground lamb, broth and thyme and bring to a simmer. Cook, stirring occasionally, until heated through, about 7 to 10 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Spoon the hot lamb mixture into a baking dish. Spread the turnips over the top of the mixture evenly, then spread the mashed potatoes evenly over the top of the turnips. Place the dish in the oven and cook until the potatoes start to brown and the edges of the pie begin to show some bubbles, about 7 minutes. Serve directly from the baking dish.

You can serve the pie with some nice, crusty bread, which I’ll  be doing since I forgot to serve the bread last night with dinner and have not heard the end of it from Michelle and Sean :). A quick meal, easy clean up and a good use of what is left over from previous meals.

Tomorrow’s meal will be from scratch and it’s going to be a good one. I’ll be making Chicken Marsala in the slow cooker tomorrow with some rice on the side. It’s the first time I’ll be making it in the slow cooker, so it will be interesting to see how it turns out. If you have any questions, comments or any input at all, feel free to leave a comment or message here. I hope everyone had a nice, long weekend and enjoy your meal tonight!