Shephard-less Shephard’s Pie

For Mashed potatoes:

1 ½ lbs russet potatoes peeled

¼ C half and half

2 oz unsalted butter

Salt & pepper

1 egg yolk

(or 2 packages of TJs frozen mashed potatoes)

For Pie Filling:

Pad of butter

1 (10oz) package mushrooms (finely diced)

1 (12oz) package veggie crumbles

1 diced onion

2 carrots (diced)

2 cloves garlic (diced)

2 tsp tomato paste

1C vegetable broth

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

2 tsp rosemary (diced)

1 tsp thyme (diced)

½ C corn

½ C English peas

Salt & Pepper

2 C Irish cheddar shredded (for topping)

For the potatoes: If you must make everything from scratch, boil potatoes until fork tender, then drain. Let them cool, but peel them when still warm. Melt butter in microwave and add to half-and-half, mix in as you mash potatoes. Add egg yolk, stir to combine and set aside.

Note: Save yourself some time and just use good quality frozen mashed potatoes (like the frozen rounds you get at Trader Joes) the potatoes aren’t the main focus here, especially when you’re covering them in cheese.

For the pie:

Preheat oven to 400.

Heat saucepan to medium heat, melt butter and start browning mushrooms. Cook these down considerably until there’s no real moisture remaining, then add onion and cook until soft. Turn heat up to medium/high, then add the carrot, you want to caramelize the outside a bit, but don’t want it to get totally mushy. Add veggie crumbles and garlic cook until warmed through. Coat mixture in flour and add Worcestershire, rosemary, and thyme. Add vegetable broth, bring to a boil and reduce until mixture’s thickened. Add the corn and peas stir and transfer to a baking dish.

If you want to make this pretty you can put your mash potatoes in a piping bag and neatly cover the mixture in potato puffs, but who’s got time for that? Once you’ve got the whole mixture covered in mashed potatoes sprinkle on the cheddar. Bake for 20 min or until cheese is melted and slightly brown. Remove and let cool before serving.