All four burners and the stove going for this one. My family loves shepherds pie so this was a tricky one but so yummy and worth it. Also it took me only about 1/2 an hour to assemble My husband makes a beef one that my daughter is nuts over. He challenged me to make one as good. Here it is.
YIELD: 1 shallow oblong casserole dish
INGREDIENTS:
5 medium potatoes
2 carrots
1 cup frozen peas
9 or 10 mushrooms (I prefer cremini but any kind would work)
I package of ground round (an Yves product)
1 onion
2 cloves of garlic
1 mushroom flavour bouillon cube in 1/4 cup hot water
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp soya sauce (or Tamari)*
2 heaping tbsp tofutti cream cheese
olive oil
Earth Balance butter
2 / 4 tbsp flour*
Salt and pepper to taste
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven 375˚
Pot 1 ~ Wash and cube potatoes (skin on). Add to boiling water and cook till well done.
Fry pan ~ Dice the onions and add to a hot frying pan with a good glug of olive oil. Cook over medium heat and once they are soft add the garlic and cook a few more minutes. Cut 6/7 mushrooms to desired size and add to onions and garlic. (I mince some and leave some in 1/2 slices. The kids pick out the big chunks and unknowingly eat the little pieces, evil Mommie) cook till starting to shrink and brown. Add the ground round and mix it in with the rest in the pan. Add 1 tbsp Worcestershire and the soy sauce. Let cook while preparing the rest.
Pot 2 (steamer) ~ Check your potatoes. Are they ready? No, okay peel the carrots cut lengthwise in 1/2 and the 1/2 again. cut into pieces about twice the size of a pea. Add them to a steamer and cook till tender but firm. Chuck in the peas and let them heat through. Turn off burner but reserve the water. Add veggies to the frying pan.
Pot 3 (small one) ~ Melt a good dollop of Earth Balance in the pan. Mince up the remaining mushrooms and saute them in the butter. Once they are cooked reduce temp to low and add the flour till it forms a thick paste. Add the 1/4 cup water with bouillon and whisk till thick. Add a bit of the reserved carrot water at a time, whisking in between to keep it thick. keep adding and mixing till you have about 1 cup of mushroom gravy that is a thick gravy consistency. Add the remaining tbsp of Worcestershire. Add to the fry oan and mix everything together. As all this whisking and adding water is going on you probably want to check the potatoes and drain them.
Mash the potatoes adding the tofutti and veggie water (as needed) till you get the right consistency. Salt and pepper to taste.
Grease the casserole dish and add the ground round mixture evenly over the bottom. Cover with potatoes and bake for 30 minutes uncovered.
* if you use tamari and and cornstarch or other alternative to wheat flour this is easy to make gluten free,
I had 3 helpings which was totally unnecessary but I'd been left out so many times and my mouth was so happy that I just went for it.
