Upside-Down Shepherd's Pie

By  Robin Bashinsky, Cooking Light
To keep things lightning-fast, we forego the layered-in-a-skillet approach to shepherd’s pie and instead serve the veggie-flecked beef mixture on top of a bed of mashed potatoes. A little bit of flour thickens the sauce so that it’s more of a rich, luscious gravy. We love the touch of sweetness that turnips offer, but you can substitute any other root vegetable you have on hand—try parsnip, rutabaga, or more carrot. And though we go for ground beef here, you can try the recipe with ground lamb (more traditional), ground turkey, or ground chicken.

Yield

Serves 4 (serving size: about 1/2 cup potatoes and about 1 cup beef mixture)

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 10 ounce 90% lean ground beef
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1/2 cup chopped turnip (about 3 oz.)
• 1/2 cup chopped carrot (about 1 medium carrot)
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 cups unsalted beef stock
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 cup frozen green peas
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 3/8 teaspoon kosher salt
• 3 cups frozen mashed potatoes (such as Ore-Ida Steam n' Mash)
• 1/3 cup 2% reduced-fat milk

How to Make It

Step 1

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high. Add beef; cook 6 to 7 minutes or until browned, stirring to crumble. Add onion, turnip, carrot, rosemary, and garlic to pan; cook 6 minutes or until vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally. Whisk together stock and flour. Add stock mixture to pan; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium, and simmer 4 minutes or until thickened. Stir in peas, pepper, and salt.

Step 2

Place potatoes in a microwave-safe dish; cover with plastic wrap. Microwave at HIGH 6 minutes. Add milk to potatoes; mash to desired consistency. Divide potato mixture among 4 shallow bowls. Top evenly with beef mixture.