Shepherd's Pie

Peggy Lampman | Contributor

What do you get when you combine leftover beef roast with the rest of your holiday dinner leftovers? Give up? Shepherd's Pie! Like the Turkey Soup I always throw together after Thanksgiving, this recipe is made with leftovers from our Christmas Eve dinner.

Shepherd's Pie was a staple in my mom's kitchen but I've never thought about the genesis of the name until now. Her pie, and most versions of Shepherd's Pie, serve it topped with mashed potatoes. So it may have Irish roots, right? Maybe Scotch. Mom made her filling with ground beef but it seems to me shepherd's would have used lamb instead of beef in their pies.

Or picture this: A wandering shepherd, in need of a shave, parks his sheep outside of Sweeny Todd's, circa 1780's, London barbershop. Is that how Shepherd's Pie came to be? (I'll spare you the imaginary details and stop while I'm "a-head"! ) I'm relieved to report that my brief Google search revealed to me no direct connection between Shepherd's Pie and Sweeney Todd's pies. Whew!

Whatever one calls this recipe, it's a perfect vehicle for cleaning out the contents of my fridge: Ziplocks filled with Twice-Baked Potatoes with Spinach & Leeks, Standing Rib Roast and leftover gravy from our Christmas Eve menu. My version of Shepherd's Pie tidily organized the disarray in one tasty dish. I made this from my leftovers but any leftovers you have will work fine--as long as they include mashed potatoes.

The biggest disappointment with my dish was I didn't have enough leftover potatoes to pile high over the beef, like mom's.

Yield: 4-6 servings Active Time: 15 minutes Bake Time: 30-35 minutes

Ingredients:

2-3 carrots, peeled and sliced 1 1/2 cups frozen peas 5 cups cubed leftover roast beef, from Standing Rib Roast 2 cups gravy 4-plus cups leftover mashed potatoes or potatoes from Twice Baked Stuffed Potatoes filling

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350Ëš. 2. Blanch carrots in rapidly boiling water until just tender. When draining, pour over frozen peas to quickly thaw peas. Combine beef, peas, carrots and gravy.Transfer to (9X12X2-inch) baking dish for 30-35 minutes, or until mashed potatoes are browned and gravy is bubbling.