Turkey Shepherd Pie

December is here again. On one hand I’m sad because yet another year has flown by. But on the other I’m happy! December is one of my favorite months. I get to celebrate my birthday, Christmas and New Year’s. NYC is the loveliest, jazz sounds the best, the first snows come down, the fall semester finally ends and cookies are in abundance everywhere during this magical month. What’s not to love?

Enough banter – let’s get to the food. Shepherd pie has always fascinated me. I’ve never tried/cooked it before but heard about it and it’s been on ‘the list’ for a while. I decided to make it for tonight’s dinner. I wasn’t feeling the mashed potato component though and decided a crispy texture on top would be more fitting. I looked at a few recipes of fellow bloggers and on the internet and concocted my own.

This dish came out amazing! The meat was so flavorful and the potatoes’ crispness did exactly what I’d hoped they would. The aroma that filled the house was incredible. And my family was impressed.

(Yield: 4 servings)

Ingredients:

1 carrot, diced

1 celery stalk, diced

1 red onion, diced

2 garlic cloves, chopped

1 lb ground turkey

1 tsp poultry seasoning

A few pinches of cayenne pepper

¼ c dry red wine

1 tsp spicy brown mustard

½ c chicken/turkey broth

½ c canned peas, drained and rinsed

4 small russet potatoes

Extra virgin olive oil

Salt/coarsely ground pepper

Preheat 2 tbsp of oil in a large skillet on medium heat. Add carrot, celery, onion and garlic, with a bit of salt, to the skillet and sauté about 5 min. Add the turkey, poultry seasoning, cayenne, salt and black pepper. Sauté the meat, breaking it up with a spatula, 10-12 min. Then add the wine and simmer another 10 min, for the alcohol to evaporate. Then add the mustard and stock and simmer another 12 min.

In the meantime, preheat the oven to 400F. Wash and peel the potatoes. Slice thinly and toss with olive oil, salt and pepper.

When the meat is done simmering, add the peas and taste for seasoning.

Then transfer it into a baking dish of your choice and top with the sliced potatoes in a somewhat uniform pattern.

Place in the oven and cook for 40 min, or until the potatoes are cooked through.

*I recommend serving this with some shredded cheese and/or sour cream.