It's easy, yummy and if you plan it right, requires very little prep work.
We had roast lamb for dinner, Saturday night. Before roasting the lamb, I made slits in the meat and inserted pieces of fresh garlic and fresh ginger. This adds a lovely flavour to the roast and can help tone down the strong flavour that some American lamb has. It also imparts a rich flavour to the meat juices.
As I was planning to use the leftovers for the Shepherd's Pie, I made extra mashed potatoes and gravy.
If you have leftover vegetables from your roast dinner, like roasted pumpkin/squash, roasted sweet potato (known as kumera in NZ), etc, you can always cut them up into small pieces and add them to the meat.
SHEPHERD'S PIE
Leftover roast (lamb ,chicken or beef go well)
Leftover gravy
Leftover mashed potatoes
Packet of frozen mixed vegetables (I used one of those 12 oz Steam Fresh packages)
Extra left over veges from the roast meal (chop into small pieces)
2 tbsp - 1/4 cup butter (Depends on how much butter you want to use!)
Preheat oven to 400 deg F.
Cube the leftover roast into small pieces. I ended up with approximately 3 cups of lamb.
Mix in the mixed veges and any other leftovers that you may be using. I steamed the mixed veges, in their packet, first. This makes them easier to mix in and cuts down on the cooking time as the veges are no longer frozen.
Mix in the leftover gravy. I had about 3 cups. I usually heat the gravy as well, as it makes it a little easier to add.
Spread the mashed potatoes over the meat mixture. Don't smooth the top down, you want it rough with little peaks, etc. Dot small pieces of butter all over the top of your pie. This makes the top of the pie lovely and brown and crisp. You can leave it off if you want, but I think it tastes better with the butter :-)
Put in oven and bake for about 45 minutes or until pie is heated through, bubbling and top is browned.
If the dish is full to the top, you might want to place it in a roasting pan or on a tray, while cooking, as sometimes it will bubble over.
Enjoy !!!
