To prepare for the week, we made a few dishes on Sunday to put in the fridge and break out when we are pressed for time with kid or family activities. This week we decided Shepard’s pie and posole would be the “heat up dinners.” Both of these do pretty well when the sit for a bit. The nice part about the Shepard’s pie is that it really does get a ton better after a night or so in the fridge and its pretty simple, just takes a bit of time to make a lamb stew and mash potatoes. We like to use lamb rather than ground beef and I like to mince my own lamb with a knife to give it some texture. Ingredients for the lamb stew:
- 1 onion
- 4 carrots
- 4 sticks celery
- 4 cloves garlic
- Two handfuls of spinach chopped small
- Bunch of thyme
- 1/3 cup flour
- 1.5 lbs hand minced boneless lamb
- 1 quart beef stock
To make the lamb stew. Sweat out the vegetables with some olive oil in a dutch oven. Once the onions are translucent add lamb. Cook for 5-10 minutes to brown lamb. Add spinach and thyme and wilt down. Add flour and cook for a couple more minute. Add beef stock and simmer until desired consistency.
Meanwhile, lets make some mash potatoes while that cooks down.
- 3 lbs Yukon Gold potatoes
- 3 tbsp butter
- 1/4 C. milk
- Salt and pepper
Peal and cube potatoes and boil until tender. In a mixer, add all the ingredients and whip up until smooth.
In a deep pie pan, ladle in the stew and top with mashed potatoes making sure not to add too much stew so that it overflows when you add the potatoes. Place on rimmed baking sheet (yes, I forgot this step and spent a Sunday afternoon cleaning an oven). Bake at 425 degrees for 20-30 minutes until golden brown.
Working Dad Cooks 