It’s the best of both worlds, and it’s comes together for the perfect cold weather dinnertime win.

This past week, as I was freezing my toes off each evening, I’d been thinking warm thoughts to get me through it. Things like hot cocoa, cookies straight out of the oven, and my traditional slow cooker dinner specials have all lifted my frost-bitten spirits as I’m finally forced to put on a jacket everyday to brave the chill. But as I was thinking about filling, warm you from within foods, I was torn on which would be better; Shepherds Pie or Beef Pot Pie. The mashed potatoes vs. the crispy crust, honestly, I couldn’t come up with a winner…then I thought, why should I? Why not combine two tasty treats into one? Enjoy your crispy, buttery, piecrust ALONGSIDE a cheesy, creamy, mashed potato topping! And while I’m in Frankenstein’s lab, make this an easy recipe, because, my hat’s off to those who make their own pie-crust (looking at you food network!), but I work too much outside my house to be bothered…maybe in my next life, probably not!

INGREDIENTS

• 1 pre-made frozen pie crust (defrosted 10-15 minutes)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 medium onion – diced
• 3 cloves garlic – minced
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon dried Rosemary
• 2 and 1/2 tablespoons flour
• 3 tablespoon tomato paste
• 2 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 3 tablespoons Chili sauce
• 1/2 cup beef broth
• 1/2 cup red wine
• 1-8.5 oz can of peas and carrots
• 1-8.5 oz Can of corn
• 1-6.5 oz Can of sliced mushrooms
• 4 cups mashed potatoes – prepared, like Idahoan, or Bob Evans.
• 1/2 cup shredded cheese (I used cheddar jack blend)
• 1 tablespoon Bacon bits
• Scallions-garnish

INSTRUCTIONS

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Prick your mostly thawed piecrust all over with a fork.
• When oven is ready, place your piecrust into the oven and bake the crust for 10 minutes.
• Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a skillet over medium high heat.
• Add ground beef, onion, garlic, thyme and Rosemary; cook until beef is cooked through.
• Drain excess fat from the pan.
• Stir in flour.
• Add tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, Chili sauce, beef broth, and red wine.
• Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
• Stir peas, carrots, corn, and mushrooms into the beef mixture..
• Add meat and vegetables to the pie crust. Let cool slightly, about 8-10 minutes; it will make it easier to spread your mashed potatoes!
• Heat up prepared mashed potatoes as directed.
• Add shredded cheese and bacon bits to pre-made mashed potatoes. Top the meat and veggies with the mashed potatoes, and try to smooth out as evenly as possible. Sprinkle extra cheese on top if you’re feeling it.
• Bake for additional 25-30 minutes or until potatoes are golden brown.

Now, to save myself the potential mess, I placed my pie plate on a cookie tray before I put it in the oven. That way, any spillover is caught by the tray, and isn’t causing me yet another mess to clean up.

This leans towards traditional Shepherd’s Pie, in that it’s messy and doesn’t plate nicely, in spite of the pie crust. It’s ok, it tastes amazing, so it really makes up for it. You could solve this “minor inconvenience” by making individually portioned pies…but that means more work for you, roll out pie crusts, and finding tiny plates. Another thought, since my grocery store ONLY sells frozen pre-made piecrusts in a two pack, you could EASILY just make more filling, buy extra mashed and have two pies at once if you need to serve more than 4…or have this twice in a week without having to re-make the filling. Just a thought for you “meal preppers” out there.

We had no leftovers, so to me this is proof positive that it’s a winning recipe. I can’t wait to make it again!