Shephard's pie

By Alyssa K.

This recipe based off the following two recipes.

http://paleocomfortfoods.com/in-the-kitchen/farmers-pie/ (if you choose to follow this recipe, make sure your balsamic vinegar is legal and omit the worchestershire sauce -- or make your own.)

http://www.elanaspantry.com/paleo-shepherds-pie/

Ingredients:

  • 2 T good quality butter

  • 1 yellow onion, diced (I had one small one and half of a large red onion so I combined the two)

  • 4 large cloves of garlic, minced

  • 1 leek, diced

  • 6 stalks of organic celery, diced

  • 3-4 large carrots, diced

  • 2 pounds 91% lean ground beef

  • 1 1/2 teaspoons ground rosemary

  • 1-2 teaspoons dried thyme (i didn't have ground thyme so i ground my dried thyme in a mortar & pestle until it was pretty fine)

  • salt & pepper to taste

  • 1 - 1 1/2 teaspoons paprika

  • 1/8 - 1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper (depending on how much spice you want/can handle)

  • 1-2 teaspoons onion powder (the paprika, cayenne pepper, and onion powder really helped kick up the flavor)

  • 1 cup chicken broth

  • 2 heads cauliflower, steamed or cooked in the pressure cooker (I used a pressure cooker but it made it a bit watery... altho you couldn't really tell once it was baked... and it was SO much quicker than cooking it in the microwave)

  • 1 egg, beaten, for brushing the cauliflower

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350* F.

  2. Either get your cauliflower in the pressure cooker or start steaming it in the microwave.

  3. Warm butter in a pot over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, and leek and sautee for 10 minutes or so, while you're chopping up your other veggies.

  4. Add the celery and carrots, then all the seasonings and meat. Cook the meat for a few minutes, then go ahead and add the chicken broth. Once the meat is cooked this is where I would start tasting to make sure the seasonings are to your liking.

  5. Let the mixture cook over medium-high heat until at least half of the broth has cooked out.

  6. If you need something to do while the broth is cooking out take this time to either use an immersion blender on the cooked cauliflower or transfer it to a food processor or blender and mix until it's smooth and creamy. If you steam it you may need to add some butter or a tiny bit of liquid if it's too dry. You want it to look like mashed potatoes.

  7. Transfer the meat and veggie mixture to a 9x13 pan and smooth evenly. Then top the mixture with the cauliflower and smooth it evenly. Brush the beaten egg on the cauliflower (it helps give it a nice toasted color) and bake for about 20 minutes.

I'm sure cheese would be amazing on top of this too, but I didn't feel like grating any after all that chopping. haha.