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Vegetable Shepherd's Pie (in three-steps)
(Serves 4)

Note: I suggest that you make the sauce ahead of time to use whenever you need it, storing it in glass jars (washed out jars from store-bought pasta sauce usually will do just fine).

2 standard jars of Tomato Sauce (can be omitted with the purchase of decent jar of pasta sauce):

1 tbsp oil
1 tsp ground Cumin
1 tsp dried Basil
1 tsp dried Oregano
1 tsp dried Thyme
1 tsp Garlic Powder (minced garlic would get stuck in the funnel)
1 tbsp Chilli Powder + 1 tsp Crushed Red Chile
796 mL canned, unsalted Crushed/Ground Tomatoes (or blend a few tomatoes and increase the cooking time required to decrease the water content)
1/3 cup Lemon Juice (or white vinegar in a pinch)
1 tbsp Fancy Molasses (can be omitted, but makes the sauce darker and more flavourful)
2 cups Water or Vegetable Stock

1. Heat the oil in the bottom of a medium saucepan over low-medium heat. Add herbs and spices. After one to two minutes, add tomatoes. Stir well.

2. Add lemon juice. Stir well. Add water or stock. Stir well.

3. Increase heat to medium. Allow the sauce to slowly come to a boil, then reduce to simmer. Stirring every so often, heat to preference.

4. This is usually enough for two regular jars of sauce. Use a plastic funnel to pour the sauce into the jars.

Mashed potatoes (use your favourite version of these if you'd like):

5-6 medium-large potatoes, scrubbed, peeled, diced
Sour cream (or plain yogurt, which has more of a tang)
Cream cheese

1. Boil a saucepan full of water with diced potatoes. The potatoes are ready when they are tender and fall apart when pierced with a fork.

2. Drain the water off. Mash the potatoes and begin adding all the dairy products until your desired level of creaminess is reached. Careful: too much is usually not good.

Shepherd's Pie

2 tsp oil (if sauteing the vegetables)
2 carrots, chopped
1 pepper (green, red, yellow, orange, your choice), seeded and chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
14 oz can of Kidney Beans, drained of liquor and rinsed
1/2 cup frozen corn
1/2 cup frozen peas
1/2 cup frozen green beans
Grated cheddar cheese
Dash paprika

Note: Any of the frozen vegetables could be fresh.

1. Preheat oven to 375 fahrenheit.

2. Saute all these lovely vegetables (not the beans) in a skillet just enough to soften. This step can be omitted.

3. Put all the vegetables and the kidney beans in the bottom of a large casserole dish (about 25 cm by 12 cm by 9 cm would be ideal). Cover the vegetables in tomato sauce.

4. If you're waiting for the potatoes, you can cover the casserole dish and place it in the oven for now to start cooking.

5. When the mashed potatoes are ready, scoop them on top of the vegetables in the dish. Grate some cheddar on top of the potatoes and dust the surface with paprika for show. Place in the oven and bake covered for 10 minutes (the sauce should bubble up the sides of the potatoes a bit).

6. Set your oven to broil. Take the lid off and place the dish back in the oven in order to make the potatoes slightly crispy (but not burnt).

(Source: Poverty-stricken living, Mark Prier)