Shepherd's Pie with Hash Brown Crust

Friday!

Finally!

Weekend!

I mean, WHAT A WEEK.  For me, at least.  Work and cooking and clients and class and TOO MUCH.  The house is a disaster.  The dogs refuse to clean up after themselves, and it's getting pretty ridiculous how much they mooch off us. 

It's gotten cold again here the past few nights, and so this shepherd's pie is perfect for the end-of-winter HURRY UP AND GET WARM blues.  I made it yesterday and we had it for dinner last night, and I'm not lying when I say I kind of just wanted to eat it directly out of the dish for approximately 3 hours while watching TV.

Luckily for the future of my bottom I only ate one serving, but still.  I thought about it. 

So this pie.  It's got a traditional-ish filling with beef and veg and gravy and some sexy seasonings.  Instead of mashed potatoes for a topping, though, I wanted some CRUNCH.  So I did cheesy grated potatoes over top instead of a mash.  It was GREAT, and gave more of a pie crust feel than a traditional shepherd's pie topping.  

Let's make it!  Grab some stuff.  You need beef, onion, carrot, celery, garlic, a bell pepper, 2 potatoes, an egg, rosemary, Worcestershire sauce, crushed red pepper, smoked paprika, some kinda yummy grated cheese, flour, and beef stock.  A decent list of ingredients, but all easy stuff.  You could of course sub lamb if you'd like, or chopped mushrooms and vegetable stock for a vegetarian version. 

First, start the beef.  Add it to a large skillet over medium-high heat, breaking it up with a spoon as it browns and crumbles.  

While the beef browns, finely chop the veggies.  Cut the carrot into strips, then into a dice. 

Then repeat with the celery - cut up the leafy tops too!  They're delicious.

Dice the onion...

...and the bell pepper.  Halve the pepper, remove the stems and seeds, cut it into strips, then little bits. 

Finally, crush the garlic with the side of your knife, remove the skins, and chop it up. 

So now we have all of our lovely veggies done.  

And, the beef should be browned!  If your beef gets done before the veggies are prepped, add in the carrot/celery/onions while you do the pepper and garlic, and turn the heat down slightly.  No biggie. 

When the beef is browned, add the carrot, celery, and onion.  Stir the first set of veggies into the beef, and let them cook for 5 minutes until they start to soften. 

Then, add the bell pepper and garlic. 

Pour in the Worcestershire...

....and add the rest of the spices with a sprinkle of salt.  Add as much crushed red pepper!

Stir the beef mixture together, then sprinkle flour all over the whole pan.  Stir the flour in to the beef - this'll thicken the gravy.  

Let the flour cook into the beef mixture for 2 minutes, then pour in the beef stock.  Stir the stock into the beef, and it should thicken and bubble.  Taste the mixture, and add salt if you think it needs it.  

Now, let's make the topping!  You can do this while the beef and veggies are cooking if you have extra time, too.  Grate the potatoes directly into a large bowl. 

Then add the egg, flour, cheese, and lots of salt and pepper. 

Stir the mixture together, and yay!  Topping.  

Pour the beef gravy into a baking dish - 8x10 or something along those lines.  

Then, spread the potato topping evenly across the top.  

Now, this can be made well in advance and kept in the freezer for a few months or fridge for a few days.  When you DO want to eat, bake the pie at 400F for 40 minutes or until the top is browned and the potatoes are cooked through. 

Shepherd's pie!

This was delicious.  The crunchy potato topping makes a really nice textural contrast with the filling, and the cheese with the potato gets crispy and adds great flavor.  

The filling flavor is SO GOOD because of the smoked paprika and rosemary, so definitely use those two ingredients if you can get your hands on them.  

I love casseroles like this.  They're perfect for dinner on the weekend, or to make on the weekend to have for the week ahead.  We have tons of leftovers, and I'm going to eat this every day for lunch next week. 

Happy weekend, and happy cooking!