Easy Shepherd’s Pie (cottage pie)!!!

So my sister and my brother in law both got the Covid, so they needed help with a lot and as I love to cook I thought I’d try my hand at an easier version of Shepherd’s pie, or cottage pie as our friend’s over the pond would say because it’s made with beef instead of lamb but the results were fantastic and so easy!

I use ground beef, beef bouillon, garlic paste and Worcestershire sauce to really give the beef that extra something that fancy places usually use red wine or beer to deepen the beef’s flavor under all that gravy.

That brings me to the gravy, another easy cheat that’s just as good as the fancy restaurant version, but it saves you so much as far as dishes and time are concerned.

Tbh I didn’t even get to try it except as I made it I was trying each of the parts, but not all of it together, so this is purely off the reviews of my sister and brother in law and my boyfriend that I made a mini one for.

“SO beefy!”

“Just *takes bite* so *takes bite* GOOD! *takes bite”

“It really was just perfect, everything really complimented each other, the potatoes were almost sweet while the cheese and beef were just the right amount of savory and salty to really be just a perfect shepherd’s pie as Americans know it at least.”

1 lb Ground beef

1/2 tbsp Garlic paste

1/2 tsp Beef bouillon

1/2 tsp Worcestershire

1 jar Brown gravy (I like the brown gravy with onions from Heinz)

1 bag Frozen steamable peas

1 bag Frozen steamable sweet corn

1 Family size microwave mashed potatoes (I like Bob Evans or Simply Potatoes)

~1/2 a stick Butter

Salt n Pepper, to taste

2 tbsp Sour Cream

Shredded cheese (I use Kraft’s Triple cheddar mix)

optional: fried onions!

1. Preheat oven to 350 F
2. Brown ground beef, about halfway through add 1/4 tsp Worcestershire, 1/4 tsp beef bouillon, and 1/4 tbsp garlic paste, stirring until well combined and allow to cook for 3 minutes on low after you no longer see any pink.
3. Drain the beef and set aside.
4. In a large saucepan, over medium high heat, add gravy and continually stir until it starts to bubble, then add 1/4 tsp Worcestershire and 1/4 tbsp garlic paste, reduce heat to low and stir occasionally for about 5 minutes, lifting from heat if things get a little crazy 🙂
5. Combine beef and gravy, stirring over low heat for 5 minutes.
6. Microwave vegetables according to their packaging and season with salt, pepper and butter as you like it.
7. Combine veggies and beef mixture until well incorporated.
8. Pour into 8×8 glass casserole dish, or whatever you have on hand (If you don’t have something that small you can always either double the recipe OR use aluminum foil as a dam in a bigger dish and just make it as thick as you’d like).
9. Microwave mashed potatoes according to package and season with salt, pepper, butter and sour cream.
10. Dollop mashed potatoes on top spreading gently and slowly so you don’t mix the two layers too much. (it’s totally cool if you do, just go to the next step sis 🙂 )
11. Cover that bad boy in as much cheese as your heart desires
12. Bake for about 30 minutes, checking for bubbly gravy coming up from under the potatoes around the edges.
13. OPTIONAL STEP!! I like to put the broiler on low and crisp the cheese and potatoes for about 3 minutes.
14. ANOTHER OPTIONAL STEP! Top with fried onions and parsley to make pretty pictures 🙂
15. Let sit for 10 minutes so it’s not lava hot when you eat it!